Vatican Refuses to Go Gluten Free at Communion The new instructions — given in a letter to bishops from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments — said that the confusion had worsened because communion breads had become widely available, with varying standards of marketing and labeling. "Today, however, these materials are also sold in supermarkets and other stores, and even over the internet." The new Vatican directive affirms a policy first set out in 2003 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a body led at the time by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. "The confusion can be great when these ‘breads’ are advertised as gluten-free alongside what are described as gluten-free but are in fact low-gluten altar breads," according to the Catholic Church in England and Wales. By SEWELL CHANJULY 10, 2017 The unleavened bread that Roman Catholics use in the celebration of Mass must contain some gluten, even if only a trace amount, according to a new Vatican directive. Parishioners who cannot tolerate even a trace amount of gluten should receive "wine only," the bishops’ conference says, even if they would normally receive bread but not wine.
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