A Dutch priest has quit the church because he’s allergic to the wafers used during Holy Communion.
Father Stefan van Dierendonck of Nijmegen said he was always feeling sick during services and tests revealed he was allergic to gluten.
But when the Catholic Church said it didn’t allow gluten-free wafers, the priest threw in the towel because, “I didn’t want to choose between faith and health.”
[Full Story]
There might be something else going on here. The Church does allow use in some occasions of low-gluten wafers. Since Christ is present fully in the Eucharist in every particle of the host then it seems to me that a smaller piece could be consumed to avoid problems from gluten allergies, but I don’t know what the regulations might exist pertaining to the priest in particular. But the statement at the end about choosing between faith and health, the cynic in means thinks losing this priest might not be too much of a loss.
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Gluten is the protein in wheat, rye, and barley. I think that if this person was willing to have a completely gluten-free diet except for Holy Communion, he would probably be OK. The amount of gluten in one wafer is extremely small.
This reminds me of the very public ‘leaving the church’ of a Boston family over the same issue – only in their case it was their daughter. I do not see why in the case of the laity, communion could not be in the form of the cup only in these situations?
Actually, receiving only the Precious Blood is precisely the pastoral provision recommended in the cases. Regarding the celebrant, I don’t know . . . but clearly this guy’s allergy isn’t so strong that he couldn’t have the tiniest bit, because he’s still alive.
I’m sure if he cared to stick there would be a provision for him too.
I’ve heard of this issue before, but always wondered why gluten-free wafers (is there such a thing?) were not allowed.
The canonical rules are that the bread must be valid matter – that is wheat. Most gluten free baked goods are made with rice or soy flours.
Gluten is interesting – without it, the leaven (yeast) would not be able to properly raise the bread. I am sure there is a homily in that fact, somewhere……
Actually, an allergy to gluten is more than just a sensitivity–it is a disease, celiac disease. Even the smallest amount of gluten can lead to irreparable intestinal damage and serious malnourishment. So the pastor cannot have ‘even the teeniest amount.’ People who have to be gluten-free must be very careful–even more than a diabetic avoid sugar. For scientific details, check out celiac.org or celiaccenter.org.
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