Register interest in low-gluten hosts
Only a handful of makers supply low-gluten Communion hosts that are both valid matter and safe for most people with celiac disease. Add your name to hear when there is news, or tell us how you can help.
Why this is harder than it should be
A valid host has to be made from wheat. A fully gluten-free wafer cannot become the Body of Christ. So a host for people with celiac disease has to thread a needle: enough wheat to be valid matter, little enough gluten to be safe for most. That is a genuinely hard thing to bake, and today only a few sources do it well. In the United States, the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship knows of just four low-gluten distributors.
Catholic Social Ventures is working toward the approvals and relationships, with priests, parishes, and diocesan offices, to help more Catholics with celiac disease get reliable access to valid low-gluten hosts. We are not there yet, and we won't claim an endorsement we don't have. What we're doing now is gathering the people who need this, and the people who can help make it happen.
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How to receive a low-gluten host today
Speak with your pastor first. Low-gluten hosts that are valid matter come from approved suppliers and are arranged with the parish. The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship recommends, as a best practice, that people with gluten intolerance "arrange through their parish the purchase" of low-gluten hosts.
In the United States the USCCB names four approved distributors, among them the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri. See the approved suppliers reference for the full list, and the complete guide to low-gluten hosts for how a parish can prepare one safely for Mass.
Can you help?
If you're a religious community, a baker, a supplier, or a diocesan liturgy office, and you can help make valid low-gluten hosts easier to get, we would love to talk. This is a project of Catholic Social Ventures.