Canonically valid 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. You can get one today, and we are working to make them easier to get for everyone.
You do not have to wait
If you need a low-gluten host now, you already can. The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri have baked valid low-gluten hosts since 2004, and three other distributors are known to the USCCB.
New to receiving one? Read the complete guide to low-gluten hosts for how to use one safely at Mass.
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.
low-gluten distributors are known to the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship in the entire United States.
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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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.