Posted on 12/05/2013 7:48:10 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Celiac.com 08/09/2012 - Among many gluten-free catholics, there's been a good deal of excitement lately about low-gluten and gluten-free communion wafers for Mass in the Catholic church.
Photo: CC--fradaveccsHowever, much of that excitement seems to have been misplaced, at least in Ohio. That's because the Catholic Diocese of Columbus recently said that gluten-free wafers don’t meet Vatican standards because they don’t contain wheat.
For Catholics, consecrated bread and wine are the literal body and blood of Jesus, and the sacrament of Holy Eucharist is “the heart and the summit of the Church’s life,” according to its catechism.
Because Jesus ate wheat bread with his apostles before his Crucifixion, church law requires the host to be wheat and only wheat, said Deacon Martin Davies, director of the Office for Divine Worship at the Diocese of Columbus. Without wheat, the wafers cannot be consecrated and used in Mass, so no gluten-free wafers.
In 1995, the Vatican said low-gluten hosts are valid if they hold enough gluten to make bread. Worshippers wanting the low-gluten option were required to present a medical certificate and obtain a bishop’s approval.
The policy was loosened in 2003 to eliminate the medical-certificate requirement and to allow pastors to grant approval. The Vatican also said that Catholics with celiac disease could receive Communion via wine only.
However, for faithful catholics with celiac disease and gluten intolerance who want to participate more fully, the low-gluten version, which some say tastes terrible, remains the only communion wafer option.
U.S. Catholic bishops have approved two manufacturers of low-gluten wafers. One is the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Missouri; the order’s website says it has provided hosts for more than 2,000 celiac sufferers. The other is Parish Crossroads in Indiana, which provides low-gluten hosts made in Germany.
The low-gluten wafers made by the Benedictine Sisters contain less than 100 parts per million, says Mary Kay Sharrett, a clinical dietitian at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She said the amount of gluten in one of the hosts is 0.004 milligrams and that researchers have found it takes about 10 milligrams per day to start a reaction.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a rule that says products could be labeled gluten-free if the gluten content is less than 20 parts per million.
In 1995, the Vatican said low-gluten hosts are valid if they hold enough gluten to make bread. Worshippers wanting the low-gluten option were required to present a medical certificate and obtain a bishop’s approval. The policy was loosened in 2003 to eliminate the medical-certificate requirement and to allow pastors to grant approval. The Vatican also said that Catholics with celiac disease could receive Communion via wine only. However, for faithful catholics with celiac disease and gluten intolerance who want to participate more fully, the low-gluten version, which some say tastes terrible, remains the only communion wafer option.
Now wait just a darn minute, here. If transubstantiation changes all of this stuff into the real body of Jesus, what difference does the “starter” make?
Yeah. Doesn’t transubstantiation miraculously remove the gluten as it becomes the body of Christ?
God didn’t forget something in this magic plan, did He?
Transubstantiation changes (wheat) bread into the real body of Christ—the question is what constitutes wheat bread. If it isn’t bread, it isn’t happening.
Lo-gluten transubstantiates into Al Franken. . . . (evil grin)
Non-wheat "bread" is not the proper matter.
The Vatican also said that Catholics with celiac disease could receive Communion via wine only.
Been there. Done that. What's the problem? Reception under both species is not necessary.
However, for faithful catholics with celiac disease and gluten intolerance who want to participate more fully...
This isn't encounter group. Get over it. I did, in about ten seconds.
exactly. Gotta say I’m rolling my eyes at the diocese on this decision. Sometimes rigid adherence to MANMADE doctrines is what makes nonChristians shake their heads at us and say “no way do I want to live like those people!”
I like to think that perhaps Jesus also is shaking His head at the dumb MANMADE stuff that we put in place to separate us and keep us apart (”i am more special than you”) when He came to bring us ALL to the Kingdom of Heaven! Sometimes modern day Christians and Catholics can act just like those Pharisees in His time did...
As the word “traSUBSTANtiation” itself indicates, the SUBSTANce is what is changed—the properties remain the same. (Properties are not substance—they are found in a substance but are not the substance—basic traditional philosophy). Miraculously at times the properties have also done wonky things (lots of Eucharistic miracles out there), but this is not the norm.
Jesus took "bread." I'm told that words have meaning, especially the words found in the Bible.
And... "if"?
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [i.e., have died]
This is absurd and legalistic.
And yes, I am Catholic.
If we want to follow the Law, let’s do it right and become Orthodox Jews.
So I guess we should use matzos, right?
You mean man-made doctrines like Luther's doctrine of "the Bible alone" as the sole rule of faith? < rolling eyes>
When you find Luther's doctrine in the Bible, let me know.
It may also come as news to some Protestants that there were 1450 years of Christian history prior to Luther. Good luck finding Luther's doctrine of "the Bible alone" as the sole rule of faith prior to 1450.
Maybe you have to start with wheat or it'll transubstantiate into someone else?
Even as a kid, I remember saying in religion class that I didn't want to go to communion because I didn't want to eat people.
I'm constantly amazed by our Protestant FRiends who nitpick at those of us who are simply trying to follow Jesus. While we walk by faith and not by sight, you demand to be shown...
[KJV] 1 Cor 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Does the Church really fail in your eyes for realizing that the matter of bread is important? Should we use Twinkies for a more festive experience? We are simply following Christ.
You both are confusing transformation with transubstantiation. In transformation, both substance and accidents are changed. In transubstantiation the substance changes, the accidents remain.
The accidents of bread such as taste, shape, weight, ect, remain. The substance, what it is called and known as, is transubstantiated.
Ask a philosophical and religious question, get a philosophical and religious answer.
The typical anti-Catholic fare must be somewhat light today. Thanks for posting this timely article from August of last year.
**That’s because the Catholic Diocese of Columbus recently said that gluten-free wafers don’t meet Vatican standards because they don’t contain wheat. **
Gluten free hosts contain a small amount of gluten so they do contain enough of the wheat.
If you are a priest, then you should use something that you are morally certain is not only valid, but conforms to what the tradition that you are celebrating in employs. The East and the West do things differently to highlight different theological truths (the West emphasizes the element of continuity in the transformation of the old ways by maintaining the outer resemblance of the old ways in a particular manner, the East emphasizes the discontinuity in the transformation by introducing very deliberately what was forbidden but symbolizes life). Buying your stuff from a Jewish baker or someone who imitates current Jewish practice is not something that has been emphasized because it doesn’t emphasize, and probably misleads, with regards to theological truth.
If you aren’t a priest but the priest is messing with the matter, it is a very good indication that you ought to drop the Bishop a note and switch parishes.
Most gluten free folks are just on the bandwagon, but there are people who cannot tolerate any wheat. Are they therfore doomed, since Catholicism also beleives in the efficacy of
the sacrament?
And, not to be flippant, but if Twinkies were all you had?
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