Coeliac disease By January 2004, extremely low-gluten Church-approved hosts had become available in the United States, Italy and Australia. As of July 2017, the Vatican still outlawed the use of gluten-free bread for Holy Communion. The Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) may present problems with its obligation to eat matzo, which is unleavened bread made in a strictly controlled manner from wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye. This rules out many other grains that are normally used as substitutes for people with gluten sensitivity, especially for Ashkenazi Jews, who also avoid rice. Many kosher-for-Passover products avoid grains altogether and are therefore gluten-free.
Ancient Israelite cuisine wafers ("rekikim") smeared with oil baked in an oven. There were also baked goods, all made of wheat flour and baked in an oven, which were not burned on the altar. These were the twelve unleavened and specially shaped showbreads, eaten by the priests after they had been displayed; two loaves of leavened bread prepared for the festival of Shavuot and eaten by the priests; thanksgiving breads, which included leavened bread, unleavened bread, unleavened wafers and scalded loaves, with one of each kind given to the priests and the remainder eaten by the owner and guests; and the unleavened loaves