Mass wine and hosts must be made without additions, but may contain GMOs, according to new Vatican recommendations.
Are people with celiac disease going to be excommunicated? Without going that far, they will probably still feel a bit left out. At the request of Pope Francis, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments addressed a note to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, establishing some rules for the Eucharist.
And, in particular, rules for the manufacture of the host have been laid down. They must be made of “unleavened bread (unleavened bread, editor’s note), pure wheat and recently made so that there is no risk of corruption ”. Consequently, “Hosts totally deprived of gluten are an invalid material for the celebration of the Eucharist”.
A little tolerance for the intolerant
A hard blow for Catholics who are also truly gluten intolerant. The Congregation adds nevertheless that hosts which are partially deprived of it – in the limit where the level of gluten is not sufficiently low to necessitate the addition of foreign matter for the preparation of bread -, are valid, when, “for serious and various reasons ”, the faithful cannot absorb normally baked bread.
The recommendations also concern the mass wine. For those who do not wish to drink alcohol, it can be replaced by must, “that is to say grape juice, fresh or preserved, the fermentation of which is suspended thanks to processes which do not alter it. not nature ”.
Natural and with GMOs
Bread, like wine, should be as natural and simple as possible. Any addition of product is prohibited. The introduction of fruit, sugar or honey in the bread intended for the Eucharist thus constitutes “a serious abuse”.
On the other hand, the Congregation indicates that the presence of GMOs is not prohibited. The approach is therefore purely religious, and not imprinted with environmental activism.
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