When an allergy makes Sunday Mass ‘too dangerous to attend’ 

When I was seven years old, I met Jesus, and it was love at our first meeting. 

I did not know anything about denominations or church history or church politics— just a beautiful relationship that blossomed over time. 

When I was an older teen, I began going to a Roman Catholic Church nearby because their parish priest was a world-renowned scholar on the Psalms and his homilies were challenging. 

Eventually I became a Roman Catholic because there were so many churches and Mass times; it just made it easier to practise the faith I had developed.

But all that has changed now.

At 32, I was diagnosed with a terminal cancer that later changed into another type of cancer. Then on Day 29 of chemotherapy I was told I had another type of cancer that was even more deadly.

Things did not stop there. I developed breast cancer, as well as two different types of lymphomas. The oncologists had to figure out which one would kill me first to figure out which order to treat them in.

Fast forward, and I have had five different types of cancer and over 40 surgeries. The problem is that the more hospitalizations and surgeries you have, the more likely you are to become sensitive and then allergic to latex.

I am now allergic to latex. According to Health Canada, when I developed a latex allergy the Canadian statistics were that just over a quarter of the population in Canada (26 per cent ) was sensitive and about 10 per cent of the population was allergic to latex.

How severe the reaction is depends upon any exposure I’ve had to latex in the last eight weeks.

The allergy is dropping as people are now using fewer latex products, but once you have the allergy it remains. For comparison, peanut allergies affected only two per cent of the population when I developed a latex allergy, and it’s dropping to one per cent.

So how do we as compassionate Christian and the Catholic Church deal with this? In our archdiocese, peanut butter is forbidden in school lunches. One can request a low-gluten host at communion. But latex balloons were bobbing around at Pentecost and again two weeks later for confirmation in my friends’ parish. I had to miss a family confirmation.

My own parish recently had a big anniversary celebration, and I enquired beforehand about the use of latex balloons. I was unable to safely attend the Mass.

In the past, I had been able to go to daily Mass and did so before COVID, but now attending Mass is a high-risk life-threatening activity for me, as it is for everyone with a latex sensitivity or allergy. And so it is that people with severe allergies are denied the sacraments. A regular Sunday mass is too dangerous to attend. The Catholic schools here are compassionate towards those few with a peanut allergy. The Roman Catholic Church in Canada has been compassionate to those with gluten sensitivity. But those who are allergic to a decoration that becomes pure garbage afterwards and is neither part of the liturgy nor any sacrament nor a food source are denied participation in the sacraments held in the church building.

Christ said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

But over a quarter of us cannot be present at Mass because of the contaminated air. No church locally has the air filtering system or cleaning in place to deal with a latex allergy or sensitivity, probably because it is quite costly.

But isn’t being absent from the sacraments even more costly?

How to make your church latex-free

Allergies to latex are “becoming the new peanut allergy in kids,” according to author Rebecca Ninke. “It’s a really scary allergy,” she says, because “latex particulates can linger in the air or land on food and be inhaled or ingested.”

For those with a latex allergy, being in a room where balloons are or have been can trigger anaphylaxis, as can eating food prepared in a restaurant where latex gloves are used. Latex can also be found in tennis shoes, pencil erasers, elastics in waistbands, rubber bands, toy balls, tires, etc. 

Ninke suggests removing this allergen from places children frequent – including churches. “It is really hard to tell your kid it is not safe for her to go inside her church, a place that should be life-giving, not life-threatening.” 

Her tips for a latex-free church:

1. Have a “no balloons” policy. Note that your church is striving to be latex-free in your bulletin and newsletter.
2. Make sure first aid kits are stocked with latex-free bandages and gloves.
3. Buy latex-free art supplies, gym equipment, and toys. Avoid rubber bands, balls with rubbery filaments, and other similar toys.

Various church communities in North America are avoiding latex, nuts, and fragrances to become more welcoming spaces for those with severe allergies.

Catholics respond to Pope Francis’ call for a Church that welcomes those with disabilities, special needs

Inclusion and accommodations for people with disabilities, allergies, and special needs at Mass are slowly becoming more common at some Catholic Masses.

Father Matthew Schneider, who was diagnosed with autism two years into his priesthood, told the National Catholic Register in recent years there has been “a greater understanding of a social model of disabilities and not just the medical model,” and a focus “not so much on curing, but on accommodating.

“The social and sensory experience of Sunday Mass,” is “a big obstacle” for those with autism, he said. “A person in a wheelchair does not have any natural inability to be a lector, but if there is no ramp up to the sanctuary and no way for them to read from their wheelchair, they become unable to be a lector.

Masses that are sensory-friendly are gaining traction, but are not yet the norm, according to Father Schneider, who has counted 16 sensory-friendly Masses in Canada and the U.S.

Leigh Snead, a fellow at The Catholic Association and mom of four, said St. Pius X Parish in Granger, Indiana, is a welcoming environment. “I can usually count at least three other families, no matter what Mass I’m attending at our big church, that have a family member or child either on the autism spectrum or with Down syndrome or with other disabilities,” and these children are involved in parish life as altar servers. They also have access to a special-needs catechesis.

She hopes Catholic schools can become as accommodating as some public schools she’s seen, which offer speech therapy, more time on tests, and other accommodations for children with different abilities and needs.

In recent years Pope Francis has frequently called on the Church to look after the faithful with disabilities. “Every person, even and especially the smallest and most vulnerable, is loved by God and has a place in the Church and in the world,” he said during a meeting with people with mental disabilities in 2021.

In an encounter with the French association “Foi et Lumiere” or Faith and Light, he called the group’s message of love and acceptance “the heart of the Gospel.” He encouraged its members to keep up their good work with the help of the Holy Spirit, saying “the path you have travelled is long and full of fruits, but still today in the Church and in the world there are many who in their littleness and fragility are forgotten and excluded.

“For families experiencing the birth of a child with a disability, may you be a sign of hope, so that no one closes in on themselves in sadness and despair.

Then, in his 2021 message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Pope called on the participation of everyone in the sacraments. “I would like to speak directly to all of you who live with any condition of disability, to tell you that the Church loves you and needs each of you for the fulfillment of her mission at the service of the Gospel.

His message was released in print and in video form with translations in American Sign language and Italian Sign Language. Quoting his 2013 exhortation Evangelii gaudium, he said “the worst form of discrimination … is the lack of spiritual care.

In September 2022, people with disabilities prepared a report for the Synod on Synodality. Giulia Cirillo, an Italian woman who uses a wheelchair, hand-delivered it to the Pope Sept. 21. A religious sister with Down syndrome and a blind priest were also involved in the report.

“As a believer, I think each of us has a vocation that we need to discover; none of us is useless,” said Cirillo. “We can thus make a contribution for a more and more inclusive Church, also for people with disabilities.

Again in 2023, Pope Francis lamented the rejection, ignorance, and prejudice faced by people with disabilities and urged initiatives “that promote their inclusion.” The Pope encouraged individuals to change “our mentality a little” and open “ourselves to the abilities and talents of these people who are differently abled, both in society as well as in the life of the Church.

“And so, creating a completely accessible parish does not only mean eliminating physical barriers,” he sai”d. “It also assumes that we stop talking about ‘them’ and start talking about ‘us.’”

People with disabilities will be a focus of the upcoming Jubilee Year. In his bull announcing the 2025 celebration, Pope Francis wrote: “Signs of hope should also be shown to the sick, at home or in hospital. Their sufferings can be allayed by the closeness and affection of those who visit them. Works of mercy are also works of hope that give rise to immense gratitude.

“Inclusive attention should also be given to all those in particularly difficult situations, who experience their own weaknesses and limitations, especially those affected by illnesses or disabilities that severely restrict their personal independence and freedom. Care given to them is a hymn to human dignity, a song of hope that calls for the choral participation of society as a whole.

In 2023 U.S. bishops announced they are updating their pastoral statement on persons with disabilities (their previous version was printed in 1978). The USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, headed by Bishop Robert Barron, is leading the drafting process.

In connection with this announcement, the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life and the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD) held six online seminars to help develop pastoral guidance regarding the experiences and needs of persons with disabilities.

Their seminars focused on communion and participation. Charleen Katra, executive director of NCPD, said that one of the central needs of the Church right now is “removal of barriers to access: from properties, liturgies, faith formation, and schools.

“Through these seminars, we hope to help Church leadership understand that when persons with disabilities are welcomed – and invited to participate in all aspects of Church life – the body of Christ is more complete,” Katra said in a press release.

She offered a few suggestions for how Catholic parishes and communities can become more supportive of people with different abilities: “Seek out training, which is now more readily available than ever, to become better equipped to respond proactively to all persons who desire growth in their faith and to be in communion with the Church … Take an assessment of parish properties for accessibility. Raise awareness of issues and needs regarding autism and mental health, etc., via prayers of the faithful, in homilies, registration forms, and so on. Consider inviting a person with a disability to serve on a parish committee – faith formation, school, finance, or pastoral council – to see your community through new eyes!”

Katra helped one parish arrange a sensory-friendly Mass for people with autism and other disabilities who may be overwhelmed by loud music or lights. She later heard that a family that had been coming to the parish for 20 years walked in that night with an adult son in a wheelchair who their fellow parishioners had never seen before.

She said the USCCB’s 1978 document was “foundational” in its time, but rising issues and changing language need to be addressed.

There’s more to accommodation and inclusion than wheelchair ramps or captions for the deaf, say advocates. Removing barriers so people with allergies, mental or physical disabilities, and other special needs can participate is just vital to having a healthy Catholic Church.

“My sister, often in the back of Mass, will clap or she’ll make noises, and everyone’s always so gracious,” said Elizabeth Santorum Marcolini, whose younger sister Bella has Trisomy 18. The condition is rare and only about 10 per cent of people with that condition live to their first birthday. Bella is 15 and her parish puts flyers in the bulletin to celebrate her birthday each year.

“Often, we get actually a lot of smiles; people will come up to us after and say, ‘I just love hearing her here. It brings me a lot of joy.’”

Her advice to fellow Catholics is that if there’s a child or teen with a disability in your parish, “be charitable because that parent has probably worked a thousand times harder than you can imagine to get that child to church,” and understand the family is receiving the needed sacramental grace of Mass, which is “such a beautiful and important thing.

With files from Catholic News Agency and the National Catholic Register.

How is your parish trying to welcome those with disabilities, allergies, and special needs? Let us know by sending your story here.  Your voice matters!