--- description: The Roman Catholic Church will not allow its congregations to be given gluten-free bread for celebrating the Eucharist during Mass. title: The Vatican Says No to Gluten-Free Communion Wafers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d5593c8d264a6f/6988d5060a4a224ed69cefb6/gettyimages-629541867.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [The Vatican](/tag/the-vatican/) ## The Vatican Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Vatican Says Gluten-Free Wafers Can't Be Used for Communion by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 10, 2017 8:50 AM CUT  This undated photo shows a Catholic priest giving holy communion. This undated photo shows a Catholic priest giving holy communion.Godong—UIG via Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 10, 2017 8:50 AM CUT The Roman Catholic Church will not allow its congregations to be given [gluten-free](http://time.com/4553707/gluten-free-diet-celiac/ "undefined") wafers (called hosts), or bread, for celebrating the Eucharist during Mass, according to its latest directive at the behest of Pope Francis. The ban comes from [a letter to Catholic bishops worldwide](http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/07/08/letter%5Fto%5Fbishops%5Fon%5Fthe%5Fbread%5Fand%5Fwine%5Ffor%5Fthe%5Feucharist/1323886 "undefined"), published Saturday by Vatican Radio. The detailed guidelines are needed, according to Cardinal Robert Sarah of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as Eucharist bread and wine are widely available for sale nowadays, “even over the Internet.” Bread and wafers used in the sacrament “must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition,” the letter reads. “Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.” The letter adds that “low-gluten hosts (partially gluten-free) are valid” for communion use, provided they have “sufficient amount of gluten to obtain the confection of bread” and follow other rules for Eucharist bread. **Read More:** [_How Millennials Are Reinventing the Priesthood_](http://time.com/4810200/millennial-priests/ "undefined") The wine, meanwhile, must be “natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances.” Both bread and wine made from genetically-modified organisms, however, are perfectly acceptable. Catholic teachings hold that the bread and wine served during Eucharist — a sacrament also known by names like the Holy Communion or the Lord’s supper — constitute the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ through a process called transubstantiation. There are [around 1.27 billion](https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-statistics-report-increase-baptized-catholics-worldwide "undefined") Catholics worldwide, according to Vatican figures. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4850893/vatican-gluten-free-eucharist-communion-wafers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4850893/vatican-gluten-free-eucharist-communion-wafers/"},"headline":"The Vatican Says Gluten-Free Wafers Can't Be Used for Communion","datePublished":"2017-07-10T08:50:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:29:10.329Z","description":"\"Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter,\" the Church says","url":"https://time.com/4850893/vatican-gluten-free-eucharist-communion-wafers/","keywords":["The Vatican","Catholic Church","World","faith","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d5593c8d264a6f/6988d5060a4a224ed69cefb6/gettyimages-629541867.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0d5593c8d264a6f/6988d5060a4a224ed69cefb6/gettyimages-629541867.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Catholic priest giving holy communion.","caption":"Catholic priest giving holy communion.","creditText":"Godong—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/the-vatican/","name":"The Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4850893/vatican-gluten-free-eucharist-communion-wafers/","name":"The Vatican Says Gluten-Free Wafers Can't Be Used for Communion"}}]}] ```