BRIELLE, N.J. - An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine.
Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition - celiac sprue disease - should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.
"In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac," said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 30. "It's just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It's just rice versus wheat."
It's more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper.
I'm no religious scholar but what the hell? Search the bible - no where in the bible does it say the grain used to make the bread that was served at the Last Supper. Sometimes they ate bread made of barley back then. And if it is wheat... is it the same variety of wheat grain you use today... I'd doubt it. And you know what... it shouldn't matter.
When a religion becomes a structure and the structure becomes the means of teaching religion you have basically left much of the meaning of the original so far behind that the church is nothing more than an institution decrying rules and laws and edicts that have nothing to do with the original intended spirituality. If Christ did exist and he were to say something to us (you know when he isn't too busy speaking directly to George Bush and Pat Robertson) I think he'd say to the church "Oh for Christ Sake! It's BREAD!"
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