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Gerard —
I would say they do not have a good
reason to petition the Vatican for
an exception — this matter
has already been settled, and no
one is going to change the Holy See's
judgment on the matter.
Let's examine the facts. Any celiac
is free to receive Holy Communion
under the form of wine alone. If
they are among the small minority
of celiacs who are hyper-sensitive,
they might need their own separately-consecrated
cup, but that's feasible.
So the Church offers her Communion
in a form she can consume and, hence,
is not preventing her from coming
to Jesus. The problem is, for personal
reasons, her mother doesn't want
her to drink alcohol.
What we have here is 2,000 years
of Sacred Tradition from the Apostles,
versus one mother,
who for reasons that are unclear,
stubbornly denies her daughter the
Cup.
One more comment: Celiac sprue disease
is a continuum. While a tiny number
will get violently ill with the least
gluten, many celiacs can tolerate
low-gluten hosts made especially
for them, perhaps with minor discomfort.
I don't know anything about this
little girl, but before I draw any
conclusions about the situation,
I'd like to know whether it is clear
that she cannot tolerate even low-gluten
hosts.
If this is an issue with any individual
or family member, they may contact:
The
Catholic Celiac Society.
Information from their web site:
The Catholic Celiac Society is
being organized by a group of
dedicated Catholics with celiac
disease who are interested in
working from within the Church
to educate other Catholics with
celiac disease about their options
for Holy Communion, to inform
the Church about the special challenges
faced by people with celiac disease,
and to reconcile those people
with celiac disease who have left
the Church because of the issues
surrounding communion.
The Mass for Catholics with celiac
disease is an opportunity for
them to gather as ONE community
to witness to the Church that
we are here and that we love the
Church and need her understanding.
Holy Communion will be provided
under the forms of BOTH bread
and wine. The celebration of the
Mass REQUIRES the use of the sign
of bread, so we will be using
low-gluten altar bread which is
approved by the Church. Catholics
may receive Holy Communion from
the cup, or receive the low-gluten
host, or both. Our intent is to
offer the low-gluten hosts to
those who CHOOSE to receive them.
Please consider joining us. You
can contact:
Eric
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