The Catholic Church recently refused to validate the first communion of a girl who has celiac disease, because the wafer she ingested only contained rice, and none of the mandatory bit of unleavened bread. The girl's mother has appealed the matter to the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, claiming that it is unfair to deprive her daughter of communion because of a disease.
Aaron's rantblog mentions that Abraham Twersky - an Orthodox rabbi and psychiatrist - once intervened on behalf of an alcoholic priest who was terrified of drinking wine for communion. Twersky explained that Jesus of Nazareth - an observant Jew - would certainly have known that people who would get sick from a substance are under all circumstances exempt from any obligation to consume it.
This may not solve the problem with the matzoh, however. Jews who can't fulfill a mitzvah without endangering their health are - in almost all cases - simply exempt from fulfilling it. They may or may not have the option of fulfilling it through an alternative.
Chametz is leavened material made from one of five species of grain (wheat, oats, rye, barley, and spelt). According to rabbinic authorities, these are also the materials that can be used to make matzoh. All these contain gluten, with the possible and rare exception of oats, which apparently can be grown without gluten.
The difference between the obligation for Jews to eat matzoh on Passover and the obligation of Catholics to take communion is that the Catholics have a concept of sacraments. A sacrament is a "formal religious act conferring a specific grace upon those who receive it." Those who can not receive a sacrament are deprived of grace, at the peril of their souls.
Add to this the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, the belief that by consecrating bread and wine, they literally become the blood and body of Jesus. Since there is no basis for this in Judaism, it is anyone's guess whether the doctrine allows for consecration of anything other than matzoh.
So, in the end, this case may serve to highlight a key distinction between Judaism and Catholicism - in Judaism, you are no worse off if you can't perform a mitzvah and don't; in Catholicism, celiac disease isn't just a curse on your body but also on your soul.
Sorry for the late comment, but I just found this while doing a search. Almost all the news reports have neglected to mention that according to Catholic doctrine, it is [i]just as valid[/i] to consume [i]only[/i] the Blood of Christ under the appearance of wine. So would be the use of low-gluten (<0.001%) wheat hosts. The girl's mother is making a big fuss about nothing. I think the Jewish parallel would be the mother insisting that the girl be allowed to eat a non-kosher matzoh, rather than simply being exempt from the obligation.
(BTW, I don't think you quite understand the ins and outs of sacramental grace in Catholicism, but that's a side issue here.)
Posted by: Atlantic | October 04, 2004 at 01:45 PM