Denied

Haley Waldman is eight years old. She lives in New Jersey and is something of a tomboy who doesn't like wearing dresses. But as a faithful Roman Catholic, she spent a long time looking forward to her first Holy Communion. So in May she put on her best white dress, went with her mother to church, and ate the ritual wafer which Catholics believe represents the body of Jesus.

And then the Catholic Church declared her Communion invalid.

You see, Haley has a rare medical condition called celiac sprue disease which makes it impossible for her to digest the wheat-based protein called gluten; eating wheat would damage her intestines and possibly lead to cancer. So she cannot eat the regular wheat-based wafer used in Roman Catholic ceremonies. And while low-gluten wafers exist, they do not work for all celiac patients.

Her mother, Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, informed her parish priest and asked that Haley be allowed to eat a rice wafer instead, but her request was refused. So Haley ended up taking her first Communion at another local church, one with a priest who did make an exception -- only to have Trenton Bishop John Smith rule it invalid, claiming that Communion wafers must be wheat-based.

"This is not an issue to be determined at the diocesan or parish level," Smith said in a statement, "but has already been decided for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world by Vatican authority."

One has to wonder what in the world Smith was thinking when he denied Haley's Communion. After all, it's not like she asked for a rice wafer because she just doesn't like wheat, it was because she physically cannot eat wheat. She loves the Church and was eager to receive her first Communion, but was denied that sacrament by someone who does not know her and who evidently does not care about her health.

Does the Church really have no provision whatsoever for medical necessity? Or is it because the Church is such a slave to doctrine that no exceptions are possible under any circumstances for any reason? Alcoholics are in a similar position, as the use of grape juice as a substitute for wine during Communion is likewise forbidden. (Sadly, this is not limited to Christianity. Most religions have their super-adherents who block out everything which does not fit into their neat little world.)

Meanwhile, Pelly-Waldman has appealed to the Pope for help. "This is a church rule, not God's will," she wrote in a letter to the Vatican, "and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith."

Haley Waldman is devout, believes in God and Jesus, and is willing to go the distance to be a good Catholic, but quite reasonably not at the expense of her health. Why is the Church refusing to meet her halfway?