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.