British medical researchers have shown that gliadin, a substance coming from the gluten in the wheat flour used to make communion wafers, could exacerbate celiac disease, affecting one person in 1,000 in England and one in 300 in Catholic Ireland. Roman Catholics, many of whom are at risk, aren't supposed to worry, though. Their church assures them that their priest has actually turned the wafer into the body, blood and soul of Jesus Christ, so there can't be any gliadin in their communion wafers.

But the faithful aren't taking any chances. Apparently not too sure that the wafers have really been turned into little round pieces of Jesus, Catholics have mounted a campaign to encourage the Vatican to accept wafers that aren't made from wheat paste. While this may seem a bit silly to Protestants, who view their communion wafers as mere symbols, Roman Catholics take a different view. Out to set Australian Catholics straight, a representative of Cardinal Newman Catechist Centre reminded them that "there is no bread and no wine on the altar after the consecration (by the priest)."

He went on to explain that this is why they are so concerned about people dropping fragments on the floor, and stepping on them. They don't want to insult God by having folks walk on Him. Some non-Catholics shrug this off as a mere theological oddity. Yet they forget that the most simple definition of idolatry is to worship anything that is "created," instead of the Creator. That is exactly what Roman Catholics do.

Convinced that their priest has exercised his unique power to pull Christ off his throne, bring Him to earth, and change Him into a piece of bread, they worship the little wafer with their whole hearts. This is their god, a tiny, white, harmless wafer of wheat paste. He is the complete possession and creation of their priest. No wonder the faithful, ever mindful that Jesus is being sacrificed anew daily all over the world, cannot possibly have faith that one so weak and ever-dying has the power to give them eternal life. Instead, they trust in the priest who exercises such unspeakable power!

So why all the fuss? Even if you suffer from celiac disease, there isn't any wheat paste left in a communion wafer... or is there?