Church denies gluten-free communion wafer option to coeliac sufferer

[Guest guest]

Is it just me or does anyone find this story ethically, morally, and fundamentally wrong here with the official church stance on gluten?http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/14645/church-denies-gluten-free-communion-wafer-option-to-coeliac-sufferer

Church denies gluten-free communion wafer option to coeliac sufferer

By: thinkSPAIN

The parents of a young coeliac sufferer are appealing against chruch leaders in Huesca for not allowing their son to celebrate his first communion with a gluten-free wafer using a type of maize corn approved by the Coeliac Association.

In their defence, the parish priest of Santiago Church and the deacon of the Diocesis of Huesca refer to a text written in 1995 by ph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who decreed that communion wafers without gluten are " invalid for the sacrament. "

The boy's parents also requested that their son be allowed to drink grape juice instead of communion wine on the premise that minors are not allowed to drink alcohol, only to be told that it had to be wine.Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disease of the small bowel that is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat. Symptoms include chronic diarrhoea and fatigue and the only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008My emphasis added. Would I be way out of line in telling the Pope where to stick his gluten-filled wafers? I have to wonder how many poor children are made to suffer because of such rigid and inflexible rules. I know we've already had this discussion up and down, but it is even more concerning to me when children are involved. ;-P

-Joe