Celiac Conundrums: Communion

Let me begin by complimenting my own title: that is some nice alliteration.

Being a celiac and living gluten-free is full of conundrums, but, let's face it, so if life. My recent Easter trip to my parent's and Sunday morning spent at church services prompted me to address the difficulties of celiacs and religious ritual, particularly troublesome: the sacrament of Communion or Eucharist. Just in case anyone was unaware: communion bread, wafers, etc. contain wheat. This leaves the devoutly Christian celiac with a difficult decision. Should she stop taking communion? Only take the wine? Ask her religious leader to substitute a gluten-free or low gluten host? Such decisions depend, of course, on the individual, but also the doctrines of their church.

Researching this topic introduced me to the troubles Catholic celiacs (and possibly Seventh Day Adventists?) face in the decision regarding whether and how to take Communion. The primary problem appears to be the pesky theological doctrine, transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine change substance into the body and blood of Christ through the sacrament of the Eucharist. For reference’s sake, this is the same theological doctrine that caused early Christians to be accused of cannibalism and feed to lions and other ferocious, hungry, carnivorous animals (well, it was part of the reason). According to Catholic canon, it is impossible to consecrate a host made of something other than wheat and water. Therefore, gluten-free substitutes aren’t even an option. There is a low-gluten option produced by the Benedictine Sisters with a gluten level of >0.01% (within the European standards for labeling gluten-free foods) made with wheat starch. Of course, taking just the wine or abstaining altogether are also options. I feel confident God understands. Jesus said, “Take this in remembrance of me.” Not, “You’re going to remember me when that gluten reaction kicks in.” The most important part of the whole debate is remembering the significance behind the sacrament.

Every so often I think to myself, “Jeez, I’m glad I’m not Catholic!” This is one of those times. I’m confident that if I walked into the pastor’s office at my parent’s church and asked him to consecrate gluten-free bread for me, he would happily agree. One thing about Congregational Church doctrine (and this is pretty wild considering Congregationalism developed from Puritanism), it’s pretty easy going. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I stopped taking the bread during Communion and only took the grape juice. This was an easy decision for me. I’m not particularly devout and my Mom bakes the Communion bread for our church- I KNOW there isn’t any transubstantiation going on with that bread (and transubstantiation is not part of Protestant beliefs), especially since the leftovers are given to the birds. I also didn’t worry about feeling different or singled out, Communion is brought right to my pew by Communion servers with excellent balance (and in most cases, knowledge of my condition: my family’s been attending this church since I was two).

In the end, it’s a personal choice. Schedule a meeting with your religious leader and talk about your concerns, probably you can work something out everyone is comfortable with- God, Jesus, the Church and (most importantly) you.