Girls at the Altar

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2003/05/04/religion/religion01.txt ^

[badabing98]

Girls at the altar By MARK NIESSE Associated Press

In some Catholic parishes the majority of 'altar boys' are girls

ATLANTA - As soon as she was old enough, third-grader Ellen Clarke joined the

first wave of girl altar servers, helping break up a club reserved for Roman

Catholic boys for centuries.

Seven years later, the 15-year-old is still serving, but now she's surrounded

by other girls helping out priests and deacons on Sundays at Atlanta's Our Lady

of the Assumption church.

Altar serving has become so popular with girls that they outnumber the boys in

many parishes. That's exactly what some in the church feared when the Vatican

allowed female servers in 1994.

Before girls could serve, many parents pushed boys into altar serving,

especially in churches with shortages. Girls have now taken over in some

parishes, which has made it easy for boys to drop out. That's bad news for a

church already suffering from a priest shortage - because altar serving has

always been a prime recruiting ground for future priests.

"Girls can't do that much in the church. I guess that was a way to get more

girls involved," said Clarke, who wore jeans and a T-shirt while practicing

recently for Easter services. "I do it to give back to the community, and it

makes going to church a lot more interesting."

In less than a decade, girls have flocked to the altar in some churches. At Our

Lady of the Assumption in Atlanta, they make up 44 of the 75 altar servers.

Why is the activity so popular among girls?

"Whenever a group is denied a possibility for doing something, that makes it

particularly attractive in some ways," said Lynne Arnault, director of women's

studies at Le Moyne College, a Jesuit school in Syracuse, N.Y.

Now that they've finally got a chance to serve, girls want to do it, Arnault

said.

No one keeps track of the exact number of altar servers nationwide, but altar

girls have become an increasingly familiar sight carrying the cross, washing

the priest's hands and lighting candles during Mass, say priests and

parishioners.

At least two dioceses in the United States - in Arlington, Va., and Lincoln,

Neb. - still don't allow girls to be altar servers.

Some clerics worry that girls will continue taking over altar serving duties,

simply because boys and girls often don't like participating in the same

activities. Most servers participate between fourth and ninth grades.

Twelve-year-old Molly Rolfes said it doesn't matter to kids who wears the white

robes on any given Sunday because most servers volunteer for similar reasons -

to get more out of church and to be able to participate rather than sit, kneel

and stand for an hour.

"There's not as many distractions - you're paying attention to what you have to

do instead of what's going on around you," she said. "As guys get older, they

think it's uncool."

But many boys said they enjoy serving. "I don't really care about the girls,"

said 13-year-old Andrew Bowman. "The Mass goes a lot faster when you're part of

it."

And priests such as Monsignor Stephen Churchwell say letting girls on the altar

has increased overall youth interest in Mass.

The church still struggles to find boys who might want to become priests, "but

being a server doesn't automatically lead you to be ordained a priest," said

Churchwell, a priest at St. Luke the Evangelist in Dahlonega.

There hasn't been enough time to tell whether fewer altar boys will lead to

difficulties getting men to enter the priesthood, said the Rev. Mark Huber of

the Lincoln diocese.

But it's up to the bishop of the diocese to decide who may become an altar

server, and in Lincoln, he decided to stick with the boys-only tradition, Huber

said.

"There was a thought that having altar boys may help promote the idea of

vocations to the priesthood in the future," he said. "It's certainly something

that helps promote the possibility."

The bishop in Arlington is still praying over the decision of whether to allow

girls, said spokeswoman Linda Shovlain.

"He's going to make a decision when he's ready to, once he's come to a peace in

his heart," she said. "On both sides, there are very strong opinions. It's one

of the divisive issues in our diocese."

Altar girls may be a step toward the Catholic church someday allowing women as

deacons or priests, said Mike Reineck, who trains and schedules servers at Our

Lady of the Assumption.

"It reflects the growing changes in the church, trying to make the church more

contemporary," he said. "As the church grows, they have to continue to recruit

priests - you could double the probable candidates."

But Arnault said that, in the long term, it seems unlikely girls will entirely

take over altar serving duties.

"After a while, the novelty wears off," she said. "I would expect that almost

equal numbers of boys and girls would be interested."

[It's me]

"There's not as many distractions - you're paying attention to what you have to do instead of what's going on around you," she said. "As guys get older, they think it's uncool."

...to serve with girls. That is what my now 16 year old says. The girls flirt with the boys during Mass. He couldn't take it anymore. He misses serving Mass and blames the girls.

[netmilsmom]

>>Get some sisters (under the age of 200) involved in the schools and in the parishes so that the girls see how they can uniquely dedicate their lives as consecrated women and I'll fully support a complete closure of the sanctuary to females...until such time, this provides about the only spiritual service that a young lady can do<<

Get a more Historically Catholic parish together and one would be surprised what will be there. Many times these wonderful ladies get all of the girls of my parish flocking to speak with them!
Any morning mass we have Nuns in Habits from two orders in our area.
My Choir girl daughter wants to be one when she grows up, God Love her.
How would you know whether a nun is there or not if they are not in Habit? It's been a slippery slope.

[Armando Guerra]

I remember my days as an alter boy. I truly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I was too innocent to understand that the priest at our parish in charge of alterboys was a predator (and is now doing time). Although too innocent to know the sexual connotations, his penchant for taking you out for a spanking on your birthday was enough for me to think him odd and avoid him which turned out to be a good thing and spared me from having to deal with it.

Therein lies my concern as a father. I am now not sure about the idea of my sons being alterboys if it were still a boys only undertaking. I actually do feel more comfortable having girls around the boys at the time they are getting prepared and the social functions. At the same time, I would prefer the traditional approach of it remaining boys only and agree it is a prelude to a greater push for priestesses. I just wish the parishes would actually use this opportunity to recruit more nuns. While the drop in vocations for priests have been great in this country, it has been even worse for nuns.

[markomalley]

No argument. But I have to live with the hand I'm dealt. Now if you have a suggestion on HOW to do so, I'm all ears!

[rzeznikj at stout]

As a former Altar Server in my parish, I can agree.

I have nothing against girls, but to have them as servers does seem to be an awfully Liberal move.

That move is showing its colors right now. The fact is that by altar serving, it was thought that the act of assisting the priests and deacons at the altar would inspire them to become priests and deacons themselves, effectively aiding in the defense of the perpetuity of the Church against cleric shortages.

Since women cannot become priests, I believe that female altar servers defeat this whole purpose.

On the same token, it can't be reversed. Especially in this country. The Feminazis and the womyn would scream bloody murder if anyone cut out the female altar server.

The end result is that we're in between a rock and a hard place. Literally.

[RFT1]

The parish I attend, has only altar boys, 82 of them, and it is not a supersize parish, in fact its probably a little smaller than the diocean average. Of course, it doesnt have EMHCs either, while it does have the most priestly and female religous vocations of any parish in the diocese. I wonder there is a lesson to be learned.............

[gbcdoj]

The New Feminist Face of the Roman Liturgy - Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S.

[netmilsmom]

>>No argument. But I have to live with the hand I'm dealt. Now if you have a suggestion on HOW to do so, I'm all ears!<<

Wait and pray, B16 will clean it all up.
Or move to a Slovakian parish like I did.

God Bless!

[DBeers]

Ummmm... yeah. That's the problem.

Actually no it is not. The problem was homosexual predators within the Church and the Church unlike the secular moral relative society you pay homage to is now taking measures to prevent the problem. If you are truly concerned and not just once again bashing Religion I suggest you take action rather than sit on the sidelines whining about what others do or not do or believe or do not believe.

[redhead]

"Wait and pray, B16 will clean it all up. Or move to a Slovakian parish like I did."

LOL! We generally have 5 or 6 boys serving at the altar in our TINY little Byzantine outreach parish (maybe 40 people if everybody shows up) every Sunday.

[netmilsmom]

That's the ticket!

Actually, we've doubled our parishioners in 3 years. Being that we are in innovation central, people crave that which is Historically Catholic.
Eastern Rites are my next choice.

[baa39]

"most servers volunteer for similar reasons - to get more out of church and to be able to participate rather than just sit, kneel and stand for an hour."

What a stupid comment. I know it's not the main point of the article but the Mass is extremely participatory, people are not out there like robots kneeling and sitting, they are doing it for a reason, part of the prayer, etc." Also the fact he says "church" not mass shows this reporter likely is not Catholic. This is how stereotypes of Catholics get perpetuated.

[Dumb_Ox]

You are aware of boys' habits of shunning activities perceived to be girly-girl? Religion is already considered a woman's thing in many households.

Where masculinity is optional, masculinity will often be proscribed, in practice if not in law. Especially today.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The use of girls as altar servers was never mandated and it was left to the discretion of the bishop of each diocese whether or not they would be allowed. Some bishops have seized this opportunity to further their agenda. However, no priest is required to use girls to serve Mass. Let's hope BXVI closes the loophole.

Letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

On possible admission of girls, adult women and women religious to serve alongside boys as servers in the Liturgy

Notitiae - 421-422 Vol 37 (2001) Num/ 8-9 - pp 397-399

A Bishop recently asked the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments whether a Diocesan Bishop would be able to oblige his priests to admit women and girls to service at the altar. This Dicastery has considered it opportune to send this letter to the Bishop in question, and given its particular importance, to publish it here.

Prot. N.2451/00/L

July 27, 2001

Your Excellency,

Further to recent correspondence, this Congregation resolved to undertake a renewed study of the questions concerning the possible admission of girls, adult women and women religious to serve alongside boys as servers in the Liturgy.

As part of this examination, the Dicastery consulted the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts which replied with a letter of July 23, 2001. The reply of the Pontifical Council was helpful in reaffirming that the questions raised by this Congregation, including the question of whether particular legislation could oblige individual priests in their celebration of the Holy Mass to make use of women to serve at the altar, do not concern the interpretation of the law, but rather are questions of the correct application of the law. The reply of the aforementioned Pontifical Council, therefore, confirms the understanding of this Dicastery that the matter falls within the competence of this Congregation as delineated by the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, § 62. Bearing in mind this authoritative response, this Dicastery, having resolved outstanding questions, was able to conclude its own study. At the present time, therefore, the Congregation would wish to make the following observations.

As is clear from the Responsio ad propositum dubium concerning can. 230, § 2, and its authentic interpretation (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, Prot. n. 2482/93 March 15, 1994, see Notitiae 30 [1994] 333-335), the Diocesan Bishop, in his role as moderator of the liturgical life in the diocese entrusted to his care, has the authority to permit service at the altar by women within the boundaries of the territory entrusted to his care. Moreover his liberty in this question cannot be conditioned by claims in favor of a uniformity between his diocese and other dioceses which would logically lead to the removal of the necessary freedom of action from the individual Diocesan Bishop. Rather, after having heard the opinion of the Episcopal Conference, he is to base his prudential judgment upon what he considers to accord more closely with the local pastoral need for an ordered development of the liturgical life in the diocese entrusted to his care, bearing in mind, among other things, the sensibilities of the faithful, the reasons which would motivate such a permission, and the different liturgical settings and congregations which gather for the Holy Mass (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, March 15, 1994, no. 1).

In accord with the above cited instructions of the Holy See such an authorization may not, in any way, exclude men or, in particular, boys from service at the altar, nor require that priests of the diocese would make use of female altar servers, since "it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar" (Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conference, March 15, 1994, no. 2). Indeed, the obligation to support groups of altar boys will always remain, not least of all due to the well known assistance that such programs have provided since time immemorial in encouraging future priestly vocations (cf. ibid.)

With respect to whether the practice of women serving at the altar would truly be of pastoral advantage in the local pastoral situation, it is perhaps helpful to recall that the non-ordained faithful do not have a right to service at the altar, rather they are capable of being admitted to such service by the Sacred Pastors (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, March 15, 1994, no. 4, cf. also can 228, §1, Interdicasterial Instruction Esslesiae de mysterio, August 15, 1997, no. 4, see Notitiae 34 [1998] 9-42). Therefore, in the event that Your Excellency found it opportune to authorize service of women at the altar, it would remain important to explain clearly to the faithful the nature of this innovation, lest confusion might be introduced, thereby hampering the development of priestly vocations.

Having thus confirmed and further clarified the contents of its previous response to Your Excellency, this Dicastery wishes to assure you of its gratitude for the opportunity to elaborate further upon this question and that it considers this present letter to be normative.

With every good wish and kind regard, I am, Sincerely yours in Christ,

Jorge A. Card. Medina Estévez
Prefect

Mons. Mario Marini
Under Secretary

Altar Girls

---

Many Catholics are perplexed by the authorization of girl altar servers by the Pope. They are uncertain about the pastoral wisdom of this decision given 1) the shortage of vocations to the priesthood, 2) the traditional place of altar boys as a source of vocations, 3) the tendency of some younger boys to not want to share activities with girls and 4) the natural religiosity of the female sex which results in their saturating non-ordained offices in the Church. Yet, it is a decision which has been made by the highest authority in the Church and to which Catholics must defer and make their peace.

     See:  [/library/curia/cdwcomm.htm]

It is important to make some theological distinctions, too. This is not a matter of faith but of Church discipline. While having boys serve at the altar is a long-standing ecclesiastical tradition it is nonetheless a human institution, NOT divine, and therefore capable of change for sufficient reason. The judgment about what is sufficient rests with the Holy See.

What MIGHT have been those reasons? Since the Church had already opened other non-ordained offices to women (Reader, Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister, chancellor, marriage tribunal official and so on), all of which were previously excluded to women, and in some cases lay men also), the exclusion of girls from the unofficial office of "altar server" was something of an anomaly. In fact, it was on canonical grounds which the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts proposed ending this exclusion. For his part, the Pope may have been looking ahead to the publication only a few weeks later of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, his letter affirming the male only priesthood. The two decisions taken together amount to drawing precise theological lines between what is Church tradition and what is Apostolic Tradition, allowing women all offices in the Church not excluded by Divine Law (such as the priesthood).

In granting the permission the Pope gave to each bishop the full authority to decide whether pastoral circumstances in his diocese necessitated the authorization of altar girls. In an interpretation of this ruling, the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts has stated, with papal approval, that even if a bishop permits altar girls in his diocese, priests are not required to use them.

---

Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL

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[dsc]

"Altar girls may be a step toward the Catholic church someday allowing women as deacons or priests, said Mike Reineck, who trains and schedules servers at Our Lady of the Assumption."

Paging Father Tomas, Father Tomas de Torquemada.

Please report immediately to stake #57 with a lit torch.

[dsc]

"On the same token, it can't be reversed. Especially in this country."

Sure it can. And it had better be, if we are to entertain any hopes of remaining above ground.

"The Feminazis and the womyn would scream bloody murder if anyone cut out the female altar server."

So what? Are you afraid of screaming women? Take a tip from Humphrey Bogart: "I never saw a dame yet that didn't understand a good slap in the mouth or a slug from a .45."

[RKBA Democrat]

"I never did like the idea of Altar girls."

I'm not aware of an eastern Catholic church that has female altar girls. Women and girls don't go behind the iconostasis, so that would pretty much take care of the idea of having female altar servers.

[RKBA Democrat]

"However, I wonder if the shortage of boys in many locations doesn't have something to do with so many families putting sports ahead of faith. One or both of my boys serves at practically every Mass they attend, because the scheduled servers, whether boys or girls, just don't show up."

FWIW, I think that most problems in our society are a result of families putting _____ (fill in the blank as you see fit) ahead of faith.

I think part of the problem of a shortage of boys has to do with the nature of worship in the western church. Coming from the western church and heading east I got to see this firsthand.

The eastern churches as compared to the western church have a more expanded role for the laity during liturgy. Eastern liturgy is very active and really does demand that you concentrate and remain involved in the liturgy lest you get lost. A liturgy that invites participation tends to receive participation.

My tiny church always seems to have altar servers, in spite of the fact that it's restricted to males. Their participation is important and you can see that. People step up to the plate when they se that their participation is both needed and valued.

[RKBA Democrat]

"LOL! We generally have 5 or 6 boys serving at the altar in our TINY little Byzantine outreach parish (maybe 40 people if everybody shows up) every Sunday."

Same situation in my church. 30-40 people attend Divine Liturgy. Yet we have plenty of altar servers, our own deacon and an ordained lector. And are working on more.

[arthurus]

Having altar girls reduces male participation anyway by making religion more of a woman's thing, something that the women take care of. I see that happening in my own parish. Female priests would give us 75% female congregations.