Vatican may prohibit female alter (sic) service [Catholic Caucus]

ndsmcobserver.com ^ | October 14, 2003/Updated September 2012 | Amanda Michaels

[Salvation]

Vatican may prohibit female alter (sic) service

By Michaels, Amanda

Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Updated: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 11:09

 

• Only nine years after the Vatican gave women permission to serve beside their male counterparts at the altar, a new proposal threatens to force them back into the crowd.

On Sept. 23, the Italian Catholic monthly, "Jesus," released advanced text of an article featuring excerpts from a draft document, or directive, written by the Vatican congregations for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and for the Doctrine of the Faith. Distributed on June 5, the document was an expansion on the papal encyclical published in April that cut down on abuses during Mass, specifically during Communion.

According to reports, in addition to banning applause and dancing at Mass - both of which often occur at papal services - the document specified that the use of female altar servers should be avoided "unless there is a just pastoral cause," and that "priests should never feel obliged to seek girls for this function."

However, both the Catholic News Service, the media extension of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) stated that the directive was almost immediately sent back for revisions.

"On June 29, the cardinals in charge of the two offices working on the document had a meeting and rejected it," said John Allen, Rome correspondent for the NCR. "The final version is expected by Christmas, and at least for now it says nothing on altar girls."

Though the news of the proposal's rejection is cause for much relief among female acolytes, the mere suggestion of restricting their use has stirred up controversy all over the United States and Western Europe, where the practice has become commonplace.

Since 1994, the USCCB has held that each individual bishop has the power to decide whether or not females within their diocese should be altar servers - a verdict based on the interpretation of 1983 Canon Law 230.2, said Sheila Garcia, USCCB Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth. To this date, very few dioceses across the country have prevented women from serving.

[steve86]

then c’est la vie. Our faith will accommodate the shifting ground.

Sounds a lot like cultural relativism: an anathema to The Church. Any limits at all from your point of view on these concessions to practicality and modernism?

[steve86]

Think I’ll get a copy of that one. Reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/HERE-Maria-Simma-Speaks-Nicky/product-reviews/0972744509/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[jobim]

No tongue in cheek at all. "American Catholic" implies the
Bernardin-Mahoney-Reese-Weakland-Hesburgh-Land-O-Lakes-
Dominican Nuns of Sinsinnawa-Pope Joan-Curran-etaletal.
Their warped theological outlook says: "I must increase..."

A holy priest that you speak of, of which there are legion in
our great nation, is a gift beyond all reckoning.

[joseph20]

The Vatican "threatens to force them back into the crowd". Wow, Amanda sure did pack a whole lot into that sentence.

Threatens? Check.

Force them? Check.

Back into the crowd? Check.

This is feminist speak, and Amanda is pulling the "gender card" with this kind of language. These women are not being forced or threatened. Sheesh.

[Salvation]

Fascinating book. Some believable — some I questioned. But the part about receiving Holy Communion is very believable.

[steve86]

I’m a little put off by the book’s association with “The Medjugorje Web” but won’t let that stand in the way of reading it.

[Salvation]

Thank goodness the Bishops (Bernardin’s Boys and Jadot’s Jots, I call them) have been and are being replaced by orthodox and outstanding bishops.

Thank you, Pope John Paul II for getting things going, thank you Pope Benedict XVI for putting the train on the fast track and thank you, Pope Francis for continuing the effort.

Clark and Hubbard in NY state still need to be replaced.

[steve86]

Some believable — some I questioned

Like the part where she says Hermann Göring is in Heaven? I'm starting to wonder now if reading the book is a good idea. This communicating with souls in the afterworld -- good ones or bad ones -- is not something Catholics generally would be advised to do.

[married21]

This looks like an old article, right? Sept. 2012 revision?

What is the point of reading it now? Has the Vatican said something new on this?

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

I’ve had 3 daughters be altar servers, but I think it should be all boys.

I think the rise of girl altar servers and the decrease in vocations are related.

That being said it was a good experience for my girls.

[catbertz]

Perhaps you misunderstood my comment. If they choose to ban females, we will accept the decision.
Hope that helped you.

[JCBreckenridge]

Perhaps then the problem is that the boys feel there is no role for them.

Are we encouraging the boys to step forward when we say, eh? who cares? Girls are just as good if not better.

[catbertz]

First, I missed who was saying “girls are just as good, if not better”. Did you think I said that?

Second, the specific causes responsible for boys not getting involved is complicated to be sure. I expect that multiple reasons are at play. If the Pope chooses to ban girls, then so be it, but I doubt the presence of girls is scaring away the boys.

I coach a co-ed Catholic baseball team, and none of the teams in our co-ed league seem to have any trouble filling the roster with boys willing to play alongside girls.

[savagesusie]

The Catholic Church is being subverted by Marxist ideology-—the “Social” Justice crew-—they injected women into traditional male roles——inside the Church-—to emasculate the traditionally very masculine Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is about doing Battle-—the Battle for Souls against Satan. They need males for this role.

Masculine traits like that in St. Paul-—are necessary for survival of the Church—if you feminize boys-—blur male/female roles (women in combat/firefighters, altar girls, etc)-—boys learn to NOT put women on a pedestal and be the “protector”-—the “Fighter” willing to sacrifice for family which is needed for survival of cultures and maturity in males.

Truth (which the Catholic Church is always supposed to be for) states that there is a different role for males and females (biology proves it, too). Marxists want to erase the differences and confuse the children so anything becomes “right”——the Catholic Church is infiltrated.

Blurring the roles of males and females ruins Catholic Theology, which refers to the “Bride” of Christ, God the Father, etc. It makes it hard for children to understand the underlying meaning of Catholic Theology.

Men are not “growing up” (no decent role models and healthy male bonding (like in Boy Scouts and as altar boys) ... it is intentional...the Leftist plan to collapse Western Civilization and they need to destroy Christianity to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei0TcEgHK4Y

[JCBreckenridge]

I’m not saying what you said. I’m saying what they hear.

What you are teaching them is that, “it doesn’t matter whether it’s boys or girls”, when it’s girls stepping up.

The boys hear, “I’m happy that there are girls up there” since you are a girl yourself. Then then think, “there is no value to me stepping up and doing something because everyone is happy with the status quo”.

[JCBreckenridge]

I agree wholeheartedly.

I used to be a boy scout and was a leader, Spent about 10 years in the scouting movement.

Our group fell apart within a few years after I left. Why? Because they insisted that girls participate since, “it was not right that boys got to do things while girls did not.”

The result? There isn’t a boy scout’s group anymore.

Which - is the goal.

We need to be encouraging boys to step up - and the way you do that is to say that you want boys only.

[verga]

Sadly we have a number of Girl servers at our parish.

[old and tired]

In our parish, it’s a pretty even split, with the boys having a slight advantage. Our pastor gives the altar servers a trip to a local amusement park every year.

[old and tired]

If the Pope chooses to ban girls, then so be it, but I doubt the presence of girls is scaring away the boys.

Do you have any sons? There should be no doubt that the presence of girls keeps the numbers of boys down. I'm not heavily invested one way or the other in the question of girls serving, but I'm not kidding myself about one of the consequences.

[kearnyirish2]

Every diocese now allows them; I remember when the last American one did. The rule itself was implemented in a crappy way because it left the decision up to the ordinary, so every ordinary was immediately under pressure to allow them regardless of his preference (by the way, leaving it up to the ordinary indicated to me there was no divine guidance at all in the decision).