That's why the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent out its recent letter to Bishops about the bread and wine used for the Eucharist.

The letter notes that "until recently it was certain religious communities who took care of baking the bread and making the wine for the celebration of the Eucharist." With a much wider variety of suppliers, the letter reminds bishops that they should take responsibility for assuring that these norms are followed.

The letter does not change any of the existing rules about valid materials for the celebration of Mass. Cardinal Sarah's letter is almost entirely made up of quotes from previous documents.

An earlier letter sent out in 2003 from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noting documents from the 1980s and '90s, recalled that from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noting documents from the 1980s and '90s, recalled that "Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist."

"What I think the Vatican mean - and should be saying - is that the Eucharistic host must not be ‘wheat free' - i.e. made from rice or potato starch," says Alex Gazzola.

He is a journalist and author with almost 20 years' experience who specialises in food hypersensitivities, coeliac disease and gut disorders.

"Gluten needn't - and shouldn't - come into it. There is no such thing as ‘partially gluten free' anyway, because the state of gluten-free-ness is binary - it either is or it isn't. It cannot be in between," he says.

Their ‘low gluten' is what we understand as ‘gluten free' - so there's no problem.

Existing "gluten free" hosts do contain some gluten but the are low enough to be approved by the Celiac Support Association in the USA which has some of the most stringent guidelines available on what celiacs can safely consume.

Source

• America Magazine
• Catholic News Agency
• Allergy Insight
• Image: Amazon

Furthermore, the bread "must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition".

Bread made from products other than pure wheat is not allowed.

"Even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament," the letter says.

The wine "... must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances ... well conserved and has not soured".

Paul Mooney, who is the winemaker from the Mission Estate which produces most of New Zealand's altar wine, says New Zealand wine regulations allow sugar to be added, during the process. As altar wine may not have any added substances, it is kept apart from the main vintage and a different process is used to make it.

Mooney says the process ensures it is palatable by allowing its natural sugars sweeten it.

The letter about the standards of bread and wine is from Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

He wrote the letter at Pope Francis's request.

The letter targets the bishops because their role involves being the "principal dispenser of the mysteries of God, moderator, promoter and guardian of the liturgical life in the Church". This includes providing for all that is required for celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Until relatively recently religious communities catered for the Lord's Supper. Nowadays though, it's possible to go to the supermarket or an online shop to buy the necessities.

To make sure all the bishops are on track with what's required, Sarah's letter offers assistance by recapping the existing regulations and offering some practical suggestions.

These suggestions include the ordinaries:

• guaranteeing the Eucharistic matter through special certification
• reminding priests ... of their responsibility to verify those who provide the bread and wine for the celebration and the worthiness of the material
• providing information to the producers of the bread and wine and reminding them of the absolute respect that is due to the norms.

Source

• Radio NZ
• Vatican Radio
• Image: RCLB Sacraments