Pope supports altar girls. Praise God!

[holyfamily1]

What’s the big deal? The Church does indeed allow altar girls although it does show a clear preference for males serving at the altar.

While I certainly recognize the Church allows altar girls I personally believe that all the positions for serving at the altar should be allocated to boys and men who might just be fostering a vocation as a priest or deacon.

The excuse that “we don’t have enough males” is a non-starter in most cases. So is the notion that serving at the altar prepares females for religious life in the same manner that it helps to foster vocations to the priesthood and diaconate.

Finally on a historical note, I find it repugnant how altar girls were used even when the Church did not allow them. It’s almost as if the sexists coerced the Church into allowing altar girls. That alone should have precluded their use.

Hopefully one day serving at the altar will one day be limited to males once again :clapping: but that will be the Church’s call and I will abide.

I am a young man myself and I completely agree with you. Yesterday at daily Mass (one of my rare appearances at the OF) I saw an altar server that was a girl while about 15 young men watched from the pews. :doh2: :banghead:

 

[acarlson]

I interpreted the statement as saying, “We can’t simply give women these positions and end it at that, saying that is good enough effort on our part, that they should be thankful for our generosity” – women are made to be more than just altar servers, readers, and group presidents just as men are made to be more than altar servers, readers and presidents. Saying that “opening” the Church for women by “allowing” them these roles further undermines the dignity and key role of women in creating God’s kingdom on Earth. Women know we are made for more, and the failure of the Church to address this fact is leading some women to think they must become as men (by becoming priests) to fulfill that ignored piece of their core identity.

IMHO (I like to describe myself as a “true feminist,” promoting the dignity of women as daughters of God), this quote reflects how we are too hung up on trivia, e.g. the “altar girl” issue. We need to focus more on encouraging each and every woman to fulfill her true calling as a Catholic Christian woman – whatever it be – and NOT let ourselves get distracted repeatedly by non-issues. Specifically regarding altar girls, as this thread and several others have demonstrated, there is no overarching restriction against female altar servers, and the discussion repeatedly fails to address and promote what is unique and special about the feminine role in salvation.

 

[holyfamily1]

For sure, we are moving ahead from that era…so long ago.
I guess you and the Pope have opposite opinions on the subject, tho.

.

I am glad you can read the Holy Father’s mind and the badly translated text from him.

 

[holyfamily1]

Lol no he meant having altar girls is not enough… he wants more women doing even more things besides just that.

I wish the Pope could have told me stuff too!

 

[Brendan]

I mean, Pope John Paul II obviously supported female altar severs when he officially confirmed it decades ago…
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But interestly enough, he kept the altar service at St. Peters entirely male.

Pope Paul VI established a ‘pre seminary’ HIgh School at the Vatican. That school provides all the altar boys for the Pope while he is in Rome.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0604581.htm

+JPII and +Benedict made no changes, and judging from everything I have heard, neither has +Francis

So to your point about bishops and priests who choose to use only boys for their Masses changing, the question becomes, why should they, they are just following the example of the last 4 Popes.

 

[holyfamily1]

But interestly enough, he kept the altar service at St. Peters entirely male.

Pope Paul VI established a ‘pre seminary’ HIgh School at the Vatican. That school provides all the altar boys for the Pope while he is in Rome.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0604581.htm

+JPII and +Benedict made no changes, and judging from everything I have heard, neither has +Francis

So to your point about bishops and priests who choose to use only boys for their Masses changing, the question becomes, why should they, they are just following the example of the last 4 Popes.

And, the pre-seminary in the Vatican is for high schoolers and is called the Pre-Seminary of Pius X.

 

[JHow]

Since the Pope is favorable toward altar girls, can we now stop using the term “altar server”?

 

[ProVobis]

How is this supportive of altar girls? Sounds to me like he’s saying it’s better for the Church that women fulfill their true roles in the Church rather than just stuffing them into male roles in the name of “equality”. Mary made no attempt to be an Apostle nor to fill their roles.

That’s sort of the way I read it. I gather in many parts of the world, women aren’t being given their proper roles, and that includes outside of the liturgy. I don’t know what more can be done inside the liturgy, save for creating female deacons. He’s already stated no to female priests.

 

[holyfamily1]

Since the Pope is favorable toward altar girls, can we now stop using the term “altar server”?

The Pope no where said he is favorable to them… and no, we still can’t call girls who are altar server altar girls.

 

[Julian_Bashir]

Last time I checked, parishes without altar girls which practice liturgical piety seem to have more vocations than those that do. The 60s are over, altar girls are a bad idea in my opinion. A church full of women will have no vocations period.

The pope is not advocating more women in the liturgy, but for women to be more like the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Not toe mention, the Bishops and Priests who do not allow Altar Gilrs are not going to suddenly allow altar girls. Mandates on this sort of thing rarely come from the Vatican.

The Pope has not said “your church must allow altar girls” to my knowledge, so I am sure I see where anything will be different. If you are in Lincoln Nebraska, or Northern VA, the Churches in most cases are going to only allow for boys to serve at the altar.

 

[Julian_Bashir]

Here in the Philippines females are not allowed to be altar servers or EMHC’s but they are normally the commentators and readers.
I have no problem with that.

As for the Pope he did not say females should be altar servers. Catholics jumping to such conclusions are just like non-Catholics jumping to the conclusion the Pope meant women should be priests.

Yep. Like I said, Lincoln, Nebraska hasn’t had them since JP2. So through now three Pope’s, with different attitudes, they have not existed.

They are not verbotten in Northern VA, per se, but many churches do not allow them per the Parish priest. The bishops will in fact often defer to the Priests to run their own parish.

What sense would it ever make to say to a Priests “you have to have male cantors, and female aletr severs.” Run your own parish Father, and stand by your decisions with God.

 

[Julian_Bashir]

Here in the Philippines females are not allowed to be altar servers or EMHC’s but they are normally the commentators and readers.
I have no problem with that.

As for the Pope he did not say females should be altar servers. Catholics jumping to such conclusions are just like non-Catholics jumping to the conclusion the Pope meant women should be priests.

Yep. Like I said, Lincoln, Nebraska hasn’t had them since JP2. So through now three Pope’s, with different attitudes, they have not existed.

They are not forbidden in Northern VA, per se, but many churches do not allow them per the Parish priest. The bishops will in fact often defer to the Priests to run their own parish.

What sense would it ever make to say to a Priests “you have to have male cantors, and female aletr severs.” Run your own parish Father, and stand by your decisions with God.

 

[DAML72]

Understand…concur…but…the infamous “but”…

What strikes me is that Priests have always been the most important in the Church…in my training…and I believe that would most likely always be the case – the most important…because without them…no Mass…No Eucharist…no Sacraments…(same for Deacons who can minister…Baptism, Matrimony…and of course in the Liturgy of Word and is also an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist).

Even our Blessed Mother had to receive her Eucharistic Risen Son from Peter in the Upper Room…during nine day novenas waiting for the Holy Spirit to come down on the them…and for all the years she remained on Earth…until her Assumption into Heaven.
For guys like me…priests are clearly more important…No Priest…No Sacrament of Confession.

I think…I get what Pope Francis is saying…and I strongly concur…we need Women in really to…spiritual, apostolate and especially leadership roles/positions. Women have been clearly marginalized over the centuries. If you look at the Apostolic Age…the Nicene Age…the Post Nicene age…in all of these eras…women were “long-ball hitters”…batting in the “power positions”…in the lineup…and were counted on for great things. Like Jesus…the Church broke the cultural molds…then got “cultural” again…

…but I don;t think that one is elevating men over women in “importance in the Church”…to say/maintain that Priests are the more important…in a ministry of Sacraments and Liturgical context. Many parish consolidations have Women Parish Administrators (aka pastors)…and a priest only shows up for Liturgy and Sacraments…the Woman Administrator is clearly in charge…tells him what is scheduled…but not “more important”…and I don;t believe that I am wrong…in this sacrament/liturgy context…and that the point/distinction needs to be explicitly made/maintained.

Am I out in left field…or does my point make sense?..or maybe its just “old school”…a needless point.

Pax Christi

No, I think you’re right. Clearly he wasn’t saying that priests and bishops aren’t important, or that women should be elevated above men.

Honestly, I think people are reading too much into his comments. Remember he comes from a very different culture than we do. I won’t say he is pandering, but I think he maybe speaks to a different audience - one in which women’s roles are not as normalized or as valued as they are here in the United States.

 

[DAML72]

What’s the big deal? The Church does indeed allow altar girls although it does show a clear preference for males serving at the altar.

While I certainly recognize the Church allows altar girls I personally believe that all the positions for serving at the altar should be allocated to boys and men who might just be fostering a vocation as a priest or deacon. :extrahappy:

The excuse that “we don’t have enough males” is a non-starter in most cases. So is the notion that serving at the altar prepares females for religious life in the same manner that it helps to foster vocations to the priesthood and diaconate.

Finally on a historical note, I find it repugnant how altar girls were used even when the Church did not allow them. It’s almost as if the sexists coerced the Church into allowing altar girls. That alone should have precluded their use.

Hopefully one day serving at the altar will one day be limited to males once again :clapping: but that will be the Church’s call and I will abide.

I completely agree.

 

[Brendan]

They are not forbidden in Northern VA, per se, but many churches do not allow them per the Parish priest. The bishops will in fact often defer to the Priests to run their own parish…

Really, once the Bishop has granted permission, the Bishop is required to defer to the parish priest on their actual use.

All the Vatican has authorized the bishop to do is to give permission. He cannot require them.

And the same holds true for a pastor and an associate pastor, or even a visiting priest. If the pastor gives permission, he cannot bind another priest into using them.

adoremus.org/CDW-AltarServers.html

 

[JHow]

The Pope no where said he is favorable to them… and no, we still can’t call girls who are altar server altar girls.

Didn’t the Pope just refer to them as “altar girls”? Was that a mis- translation?

 

[ProVobis]

Didn’t the Pope just refer to them as “altar girls”? Was that a mis- translation?

Good point. I wish when they do the translations, they would leave certain words untranslated. The Pope, by his own admission, does not speak English. And I have been unable to find the Pope’s actual words.

 

[Lochias]

Individual bishops have had the power to say Yes or No to altar girls for a while, now. Pope Benedict therefore supported altar girls, as did Pope John Paul II.

Why is this noteworthy?

 

[jediliz]

well, my bishop does not allow girl servers in my diocese and** we have a very FULL seminary**, THANK YOU GOD!

 

[ProVobis]

Individual bishops have had the power to say Yes or No to altar girls for a while, now. Pope Benedict therefore supported altar girls, as did Pope John Paul II.

FWIW, Cardinal Arinze hasn’t so the support isn’t unanimous in Rome.

youtube.com/watch?v=KWByiwHE4MY