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>All but one stated that the Catholic Church forbids anything but wheat
>to be served for Communion

This is hard to believe -- I went to Catholic schools (my mother was
Catholic), and I distinctly remember being taught that other things can
be substituted in time of need. The trick, though, is in convincing the
local priest who might not be so aware of the real health need as well as
exactly how that ties in with the "rules". Some priests are just more
flexible and aware than others, just like the rest of society.... Some
also paid more attention in certain classes at seminary! Or just have a
better understanding of the rules and the exemption process. So getting a
"no" from your pastor shouldn't deter anybody from consulting more
widely, especially since many Catholic pastors have large parishes to
serve and are very busy -- they just might not be focusing on the problem
very well. Since there are so many Catholics, there must be loads of
Catholic celiacs (including on this list). Sounds like a good problem for
joint action, especially since Catholic "rules" are actually much more
flexible than most folks realize (the rules are always changing over
time). This is really an important issue to Catholics, because their
communion isn't just a symbolic sharing ceremony (i.e., just eating your
own bread brought from home won't cut it, as it could for Protestant
worship services) but rather a special sacrament requiring certain
actions by a priest, so direct involvement of the material in the ritual
is crucial.

 Maybe look for celiac priests as a starting point? Which reminds me -- I
know for sure that alcoholic priests are allowed to substitute something
other than wine in the part of the Mass where they drink the wine and eat
the large communion wafer. So I can't imagine that celiac priests would
be eating a wheat wafer. Really, the rules never were intended to be
followed at the expense of anybody's health. I remember when I was a kid
eons ago, fasting for various periods was still required in the US before
taking communion or on special days -- but NOT if it would hurt your
health or in an emergency (e.g., somebody was sick or dying -- communion
reserved from a Mass is often brought to them by a priest or
representative, my mother received it from a nun when she was terminally
ill in a Catholic hospital). Exemptions abounded as need required, that's
probably all that would be required for Catholic celiacs substituting GF
wafers (probably would need to be done by approaching the bishop of the
diocese if the local priest is reluctant). Hmm, find a celiac BISHOP and
you're all set....

Of course, the wheat now used for communion wafers is undoubtedly not the
same type of wheat used back 2000 years ago.... and also the Catholics
base their Mass on the early Passover service ("The Last Supper"), where
the bread used (although unleavened for Passover) was certainly very
different from present-day communion wafers. What would they do if a
plague hit all the wheat in the world and none were ever available again?
I doubt the Catholics would give up communion! They would adjust their
practices, as always. The traditions in the Catholic church are
continuously evolving, in sacraments as well as other things. But it is a
group process rather than just an individual decision, hence the need to
involve the various levels. The highest level of decision-making
organization among Catholics as far as church policy is concerned is the
worldwide council of bishops (the pope is elected by them, he is the most
visible to non-Catholics but is really a bishop among bishops). There are
national councils of bishops for each country or region also. Then there
are the individual dioceses under a single bishop, each with various
parishes with at least one priest (unless priests aren't very available,
in which case the parish might just get occasional visits from a priest).
So, probably the most efficient way to get things going is to contact
various bishops for help, especially ones who have shown flexible
thinking on other issues.

One way to start might be for interested parties (maybe a "Catholic task
force" from this list?) to write short letters asking for advice to
national level Catholic newspapers and magazines. That might get the
attention of people who have dealt with this problem before, or get
contacts to start the discussion going (e.g., at the level of the
bishops' conference for a particular country). Some that come to mind are
The National Catholic Reporter, America (from the Jesuits, they're a good
bunch - the editorial staff probably could help since it's probably
loaded with priests), Commonweal. There are others, those are just ones I
remember.

Good luck!

                       Peace, Cathy Flick [log in to unmask]