Why No Gluten-Free Communion Hosts?
Question: I have celiac disease and therefore am unable to consume gluten. As a result, I am not able to receive Holy Communion. Why can’t the Church use gluten-free hosts to make it possible for those with gluten intolerance to receive the Body of Christ?
Answer: Canon Law states that the “most holy Eucharistic sacrifice” can be offered only with unleavened bread which must be made exclusively from wheat. This rules out the use of gluten-free flours — such as those made with corn, rice, tapioca and so on. Since wheat inevitably contains gluten, this rules out the use of absolutely gluten-free hosts.
To accommodate those with gluten intolerance, Communion may be distributed “under the form of wine alone in a case of necessity”, but this practice has not found widespread adoption. In any case, the presence of a piece of the consecrated host in the chalice means that the Blood is contaminated with gluten, which may be enough to cause a reaction among some people with gluten intolerance.
In 1994, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation issued the directive “Norms for the Use of Low-Gluten Bread”, written by its prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI). The directive affirmed that altar bread “quibus glutinum ablatum est” (with the gluten removed) is invalid for the sacrament.
However, it also stated that low-gluten hosts could be considered “valid matter”. Such bread must contain “the amount of gluten sufficient to obtain the confection of bread” and may not contain any “foreign materials” other than wheat and water. The process for making the hosts must not “alter the nature of the substance of the bread”.
Until recently, the expertise for making such low-gluten hosts, as well as demand for them, was limited. This has changed in recent years, with many producers of altar bread, especially in the United States, having figured out how to minimise the presence of gluten to a level that is safe for those with celiac disease, while still adhering to the norms of Canon Law and receiving Vatican approval.
They achieve this by removing gluten through a special milling process to produce hosts that contain just 0,001% gluten — low enough to be safe for most people with celiac disease, but sufficient to satisfy the Church’s requirements.
The technology exists, but whether producers of altar bread in South Africa perceive enough demand to import this method is another question.
Asked and answered in the June 2025 issue of The Southern Cross Magazine
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