[Sca-cooks] Okay, so this is vaguely food-related...

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

>>> The Catholic church, OTOH, has refused to formulate a gluten-free 
>>> communion wafer for celiac patients.
>>    
>>
> When I was a Catholic, in the diocese of Harrisburg, people were not 
> required to recieve communion 'under both species', so one could take 
> the wafer and not the wine, or the wine and not the wafer, I believe.
>

Interesting, I'd never heard of that - that's good to know.  Looking a 
little closer at www.celiac.com, I found a bit of information regarding 
that (previous webpages I saw and people I've spoken to only mentioned 
not being able to take the communion wafer and getting flak for it, 
nobody ever told me you were *allowed* to forgo the wafer.)  A letter 
from the Vatican states that *low-gluten* wafers may be used, but not 
gluten-free because that would change the basic nature of the bread.  It 
specifies that sufferers of celiac or alcoholism may not be admitted to 
Holy Orders because Eucharist is so central to the job, although it 
seems to state that currently ordained priests may apply for exceptions 
but may not be able to perform in all functions of their position if 
they do.  So, I'm glad to see that it's not as rigid as my friend's Mom 
made it sound ;) but they're still not fully accomodating celiac disease.

http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=369
http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=696

-Magdalena

-- 
Tara Sersen Boroson

Mom-asté: the mother in me recognizes and honors the mother in you.