Teetotal and gluten-free Christians may have to opt out of holy communion after the Church of England rejected calls to allow substitutes.
The centuries-old tradition has come under fire for excluding people with coeliac disease or other gluten intolerances, as well as issues with alcohol With Dry January well and truly over, the Church of England has taken the opportunity to proclaim that alcohol-free wine can’t be used for holy communion. The Church’s governing body slapped down proposals for non-alcoholic wine and also gluten-free bread to be allowed during the ritual.
The Church of England’s General Synod kicks off on Monday and lasts five days While low-wheat communion wafers are available and are allowed for communion, a residue will always remain. But advocacy group Beyond Coeliac says ‘some people may still get sick’ from the amount present. Michael Ipgrave, the Bishop of Lichfield and chairman of the Church’s Liturgical Commission, argued any move to substitute wheat flour and wine would overturn two settled positions in the Church of England.
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