Catholic Celiac Society

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  (Matthew7:7)

Catholic celiacs face a special set of challenges when it comes to the Church and the Holy Eucharist.  There has been no unified effort by the Church to identify Catholics who turn away from the Church because of communion issues.  There has been no organized effort to educate priests or Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion about the special needs of Catholics with celiac disease.  There has been no support system for Catholic celiacs who have been struggling with this problem.

We are pleased to announce the formation of the Catholic Celiac Society whose three-fold mission will be to educate Catholic celiacs about their options for Holy Communion as provided for by Canon Law and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; to inform Catholic clergy and lay ministers about the special needs of Catholic celiacs in their dioceses and parishes; and to reconcile those Catholic celiacs who have left the Church through lack of understanding, exclusion from the Eucharist, and isolation from their church community.
Please help us help you and other Catholic celiacs.  Stand up and be counted.  Contact the Catholic Celiac Society at info@catholicceliacs.org or call Chris Spreitzer at 914-737-5291.

This site is still under construction...check back often for new information.

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Information on Catholic Communion and Celiac Disease

• Statement by the National Conference of Catholic bishops on the use of low gluten hosts at Mass
• Altar breads from the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde Missouri
• Sister Lynn and the Very Low Gluten Host
• Celiac Disease: the Invisible Disability
• Catholic Communion: Keeping the Faith
• Catholic Communion: The Options
• Catholics and Communion: from The Catholic Spirit
• New Statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Celiac Disease *
  *Editorial note: this statement says that "as many as fifteen percent of all persons of northern European origin are affected by this disease to some degree." I do not know where they obtained this information, nor what is meant by being affected "to some degree." All the information I have seen has shown that the incidence of CD is in the range of 0.5 to 1 percent of the population, including studies from norther Europe. About 30 percent of the population have one or more of the celiac genes, but that alone is not sufficient to cause CD. And, while some people with CD are sicker than others, ALL people with CD are affected to the degree that they must avoid ALL traces of gluten. --Barbara Coughlin M.D.
  
• Presentation at the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, Summer Institute, June 9, New Orleans
• Tri-fold brochure for Catholic Celiacs. Print it in landscape mode.

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This site was last updated on March 31, 2012.