Circle of Friends

This is ridiculous!

8-year-old's first Holy Communion invalidated by Church (phillyBurbs.com)

I saw this article in the Philly Burbs today.
Can you just imagine what Jesus would have said in answer to this? Communion is supposed to be a symbol, a remembrance of what our sin cost Jesus. What difference does the type of grain matter? It sounds to me like the Pharisees and Sadducee's described in the New Testament have invaded the Roman Catholic Church. Didn't Jesus say, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Being a Baptist, I don't agree with the Catholic version of communion, but obviously the 8 year old girl does, and wants to be obedient to the doctrines of her faith. Because she has a serious condition that prohibits her from consuming wheat the Catholic church invalidates her profession of faith! That's just wrong!! This makes me mad.

8-year-old's first Holy Communion invalidated by Church
By JOHN CURRAN
The Associated Press

BRIELLE, N.J. - An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine.
Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition - celiac sprue disease - should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.
"In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac," said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 30. "It's just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It's just rice versus wheat."
It's more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper.
The Diocese of Trenton has told Waldman's mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten host, drink wine at communion or abstain entirely, but that any host without gluten does not qualify as Holy Communion.
Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer, saying even a small amount of gluten could harm her child.

Gluten is a food protein contained in wheat and other grains.

"This is not an issue to be determined at the diocesan or parish level, but has already been decided for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world by Vatican authority," said Bishop John M. Smith.

"Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist," Smith said in a prepared statement released Thursday by the diocese.

Celiac sprue disease, an autoimmune disorder, occurs in people with a genetic intolerance of gluten.

When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer.

It isn't the first such communion controversy. In 2001, the family of a 5-year-old Natick, Mass., girl with the disease left the Catholic church after being denied permission to use a rice wafer.

Some Catholic churches allow the use of no-gluten hosts, others don't, according to Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a Studio City, Calif.-based support group for sufferers.

"It is a dilemma," said Monarch. "It is a major frustration that someone who wants to follow their religion is restricted from doing so because some churches will not allow it."

Posted by TB at August 13, 2004 08:16 PM