Female Altar Servers in Arlington Diocese

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hilde the dog:
Kirk I’m with you as I have never had the chance to even see a preVII mass as I joined the RCCseveral years ago. And I consider myself orthodox.
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Great!!! Thanks for your response.
 
It is hard for me to know where to stand on this issue. I have actually become more conservative as I have grown older. My stance over the years has been that women were allowed to perform far more important functions than altar servers (extraordinay ministers, lectors) and that one of those (lector) was also at least historically a minor order reserved only to men. So why not acolytes? I still feel pretty much that way, and of course now Rome has spoken and finally agreed, though conservative prelates still detest the idea. However, I do understand the feelings of people who associate the acolyte with a pre-priestly function and therefore find using girls inappopriate because they can never become priests.

Part of this has to do with the difference between altar servers (typically these days adolescents) and the other ministries now open to women (only adults), There are, apparently, people who think girls don’t belong around the altar because they are a distraction to celibate male priests. If we haven’t learned by now that it doesn’t make much difference in that respect whether they are girls or boys, I think we are in a pretty naive state of thinking. I have noticed in every picture I have seen of a contemporary Traditional Latin Mass (meaning FSSP, SSPX, etc.) that the acolytes are adult males. Not using children at all for what is really an adult function would probably solve the problem.
 
.Neb. diocese is lone U.S. holdout on allowing altar girls

By Patrick O’Driscoll, USA TODAY

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., is the only one in America that prohibits altar girls in church after a Northern Virginia diocese dropped its ban this week.

In Arlington, Va., Bishop Paul Loverde of the 67-parish diocese ended the restriction Tuesday, almost 12 years after Pope John Paul II granted bishops permission for altar girls. Only Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Lincoln Diocese still forbids girls from serving at Mass.

The 193 other Catholic dioceses and archdioceses in the USA already allowed the practice. The use of altar girls since 1994 ended a centuries-old custom of male-only participation in the church’s most sacred ritual.

Full story
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I hope Bruskewitz holds fast.👍
 
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frommi:
Well…there’s only one diocese with no female alatar servers…

So…does Lincoln have the most vocations in the country?

And, let’s be careful here…just because there is a corrleation between the two does not mean there is causation.
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On a per-capita basis (total number of Catholics vs. number of seminarians) Lincoln is very near the top of the list, if not at the top.

I agree with you that correlation does not mean causation.

Our late Bishop Flavin had two areas of emphasis during his 25 years (1967-1992) here: Vocations (priestly and religious) and Catholic education. Bishop Bruskewitz has continued those areas of emphasis. I suspect that it is 39 years of a consistent, strong pro-vocations message that has resulted in our good fortune in terms of seminarians. Bishop Bruskewitz sees male-only altar servers as part of that message.

But if someone says that the only reason there are a high number of vocations in a given diocese is that there are male-only altar servers, that person would be mistaken.
 
Glennon P:
On a per-capita basis (total number of Catholics vs. number of seminarians) Lincoln is very near the top of the list, if not at the top.

I agree with you that correlation does not mean causation.

Our late Bishop Flavin had two areas of emphasis during his 25 years (1967-1992) here: Vocations (priestly and religious) and Catholic education. Bishop Bruskewitz has continued those areas of emphasis. I suspect that it is 39 years of a consistent, strong pro-vocations message that has resulted in our good fortune in terms of seminarians. Bishop Bruskewitz sees male-only altar servers as part of that message.

But if someone says that the only reason there are a high number of vocations in a given diocese is that there are male-only altar servers, that person would be mistaken.
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Thanks for the insight. I’m not sold on any causation between an all male Altar Serving group and higher numbers of vocations.
 
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Catholic29:
I hope Bruskewitz holds fast.👍
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I, too, hope His Excellency holds fast. A tidbit I found interesting, though, and which I think Glennon could elaborate on, is that Bp. Bruskewitz (the notorious conservative) actually liberalized his predecessor’s policy that only instituted ministers (and thus only men) perform the duties of a lector.
 
Glennon, do you have a link to per capita numbers on vocations? I sometimes try to poke around and find info for different dioceses, but they don’t all post seminarian info (at least not in easily identifiable areas).
 
I, too, hope His Excellency holds fast. A tidbit I found interesting, though, and which I think Glennon could elaborate on, is that Bp. Bruskewitz (the notorious conservative) actually liberalized his predecessor’s policy that only instituted ministers (and thus only men) perform the duties of a lector.
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You are correct. Bishop Bruskewitz has allowed non-installed readers to read the Scriptures at Mass. The Diocese still maintains the training program for installed Lectors and Acolytes and it is up to each pastor to determine whether they will use only Lectors or also use readers.
Glennon, do you have a link to per capita numbers on vocations? I sometimes try to poke around and find info for different dioceses, but they don’t all post seminarian info (at least not in easily identifiable areas).
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I don’t know off the top of my head what the exact numbers are. The Kennedy Directory is a reliable source, but I don’t know if their info is online. In round numbers, Lincoln has 90,000 Catholics and 40-50 seminarians each year in college and theological studies. I will try to find more specific info and will pass it along if I do.
 
Bishop Bruskewitz Interview

The Wanderer has an interview posted on its online site. In addition to explaining his confrontation with the USCCB’s National Review Board, Bruskewitz addresses the issue of altar girls. Here’s the portion on altar girls:

Q. Under your direction, the Diocese of Lincoln has had spectacular results in fostering vocations to the priesthood. What do you think accounts for that?
A. First of all, it is God’s grace and the patronage of Mary, to whom the diocese is dedicated. And it’s also due to the wonderful diocese that I inherited from a great predecessor, Bishop Flavin; also a cadre of excellent priests who are wholesome, holy, pure, learned, and good.
Q. As you have probably heard, Bishop Paul Loverde has announced that girl altar boys will now be allowed in the Diocese of Arlington. That means that your diocese is alone in not allowing them in the United States.
Will you continue that policy?
A. I’ve been alone before. However, it might be interesting to know that there are other dioceses that don’t have altar girls, but they do not want it to be known. **But, as I’ve said many times, if I see a diocese, chiefly because of altar girls, with convents overflowing with novices, and hundreds of priests being ordained, then I’ll change my mind. In the meantime, we’ll just continue in the old traditional way.

**
 
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MrS:
%between% But, as I’ve said many times, if I see a diocese, chiefly because of altar girls, with convents overflowing with novices, and hundreds of priests being ordained, then I’ll change my mind. In the meantime, we’ll just continue in the old traditional way.
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The problem I have with this statement is that he is saying altar boys only is the cause of the vocations in his diocese. I’m just not sure the evidence supports that…nor do I know how you can measure it.
 
My daughter is an altar server, and she loves her role. She takes her role very seriously, and the priests adore her. Please don’t act like this is something that will bring negativity to the mass. :rolleyes:
 
The Church has many more weeds to pull than if my daughter is an altar server. I don’t believe in female priests, but to serve during mass teaches my daughter humility, in a way that only that is unique to that experience. 🙂
 
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frommi:
The problem I have with this statement is that he is saying altar boys only is the cause of the vocations in his diocese. I’m just not sure the evidence supports that…nor do I know how you can measure it.
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What he said when asked is;
Q. Under your direction, the Diocese of Lincoln has had spectacular results in fostering vocations to the priesthood. What do you think accounts for that?
A. First of all, it is God’s grace and the patronage of Mary, to whom the diocese is dedicated. And it’s also due to the wonderful diocese that I inherited from a great predecessor, Bishop Flavin; also a cadre of excellent priests who are wholesome, holy, pure, learned, and good.
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frommi:
Well…there’s only one diocese with no female alatar servers…

So…does Lincoln have the most vocations in the country?

**My understanding is that they both have more than the average US diocese. **

And, let’s be careful here…just because there is a corrleation between the two does not mean there is causation.
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I agree. People use that argument against female servers; and it will be interesting to see how it pans out in Arlington.
—KCT
 
:rolleyes: I don’t have a problem with it if they serve with reverence.I assume in convents,especially in cloistered ones that the sisters may assist at mass.
Both boys and girls should be taught behaviour and reverence for what they are doing as servers.
No I am not in favor of women priests.Perhasp in the early days of the Church,when Christians hideout in the catacombs or other hidden places,women as well as men may have been altat servers.Don’t know when they started with using children,boys that is.
 
Some things bother me about changes in discipline in the Catholic Church. Female altar servers isn’t one of them. Traditionally the altar server was being trained to become a priest. I don’t really know that’s the case anymore. I don’t know I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I’ve been wrong before.

This quick reply is great BTW.
 
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