Vatican’s gluten-free refusal tough for young Catholic

TORONTO • When Andrea Adam’s Catholic priest told her she was coming between her daughter and God, she knew it wasn’t because of her lack of faith. It was because of gluten. The Ontario woman’s daughter has celiac disease, which makes her extremely sensitive to gluten, a protein commonly found in wheat, rye, and other products that make bread.

The condition means consuming hosts — the bread and wafers used to symbolize the body of Christ — at communion in Catholic churches has been a major problem for Adam’s daughter, who can become violently ill with even the smallest amount of gluten.

The Vatican, however, refuses to allow gluten-free hosts at communion and reaffirmed its stance in an announcement distributed last month. The notification said hosts used at communion had to contain at least a small amount of gluten to be valid.

For Adam, the Vatican’s position is deeply troubling and has affected how often she goes to church.

“When the church is struggling, I don’t understand why they’re chasing more people away,” she said.

The family’s first brush with the church’s ban on gluten-free hosts came seven years ago when Adam tried to take her daughter, who was seven years old at the time, for her first communion at her Catholic church in Dublin, Ont. At the time, the priest wouldn’t allow the use of a gluten-free host, even though a trace of gluten could make her daughter vomit over a dozen times.

When she tried to call another priest in the area to see if he would make an exception, he had already been warned about her case.

“He said it was ridiculous that I would do this to my daughter, and that I needed to just back off and let her do this,” said Adam.

In the end, Adam took her daughter to Ottawa, where she was able to receive a gluten-free host.

Sue Newell, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Celiac Association, said the Vatican’s ban on gluten-free hosts has long been a contentious issue for her organization’s members.

“It is probably the most difficult problem for people who are active Catholics when they get this diagnosis,” said Newell. “We have priests and nuns who really struggle with what to do.”

For some with celiac disease, consuming gluten can cause a minor digestive upset, but for others, it can leave them ill for weeks, Newell said.

Adam said the issue has been devastating for her and her daughter, who already had to be excluded from things like Halloween and in-class baking activities because of her condition.