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What are the current Vatican rules for providing gluten-free Communion?
I have recently been informed that at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, gluten-sensitive persons are encouraged to bring along their own gluten-free wafers for consecration. Has the Vatican recently changed its rule that gluten-free wafers are not valid for consecration?
In my parish, at every Mass, thanks to our holy Pastor, a gluten-free Communion Cup is offered to gluten-sensitive communicants. No Host has been broken over that chalice and no person who has just consumed a Host drinks from it before any attending gluten-sensitive communicants partake of it. My parish seems to be the only one in the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. that routinely provides this safe Communion.
On the other hand, an official letter sent to all of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston has encouraged the practice of offering such a gluten-free Communion Cup. That letter mentions some of the serious diseases that are statistically correlated with even miniscule gluten ingestion among people with a certain Nordic gene. On the Web, Dr. Kenneth Fine cites research indicating a possibility that 30% of U.S. residents have some degree of gluten sensitivity.
I have recently been informed that at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, gluten-sensitive persons are encouraged to bring along their own gluten-free wafers for consecration. Has the Vatican recently changed its rule that gluten-free wafers are not valid for consecration?
In my parish, at every Mass, thanks to our holy Pastor, a gluten-free Communion Cup is offered to gluten-sensitive communicants. No Host has been broken over that chalice and no person who has just consumed a Host drinks from it before any attending gluten-sensitive communicants partake of it. My parish seems to be the only one in the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. that routinely provides this safe Communion.
On the other hand, an official letter sent to all of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston has encouraged the practice of offering such a gluten-free Communion Cup. That letter mentions some of the serious diseases that are statistically correlated with even miniscule gluten ingestion among people with a certain Nordic gene. On the Web, Dr. Kenneth Fine cites research indicating a possibility that 30% of U.S. residents have some degree of gluten sensitivity.