The reason why young men are leaving the church

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You’ve completely missed the point.

Boys don’t consciously dislike the presence of female altar servers, it’s just that boys are less likely to enjoy it. That some force their sons to be involved is besides the point because many don’t, and in any case voluntary involvement is more likely to continue into adulthood.
 
TINYAD said:
In my boyhood, the women were given the rear portion of the church and the males in the front.

The males do not watch a single woman’s face during the Mass.
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This kind of segregation is something I’d never heard of until this moment, at least in the modern period. (In synagogues yes, but in churches no.) Was it standard practice in a widespread area?
Was it only in Catholic churches, or in other denominations as well?

Thanks
 
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Yes, BartholomewB,

Decades back, before II Vatican Council, I used to attend Mass in churches, where this was the practice. More or less half the front part is for men, and the rear part for the women.
After the Mass, the husband and wife meet outside the church. The children too join.
The place of worship is considered so sacred. Any possible distraction are avoided.
Ill dressed people will be looked down upon. In fact nobody dare to come.
Then the terrifying DISTORTION, in the name of freedom, inculturation, openness, gender equality, giving the worst sinner the front seat, etc, etc.
 
You raise a good and fair question. I would be equally concerned about why young women are leaving the Church. I don’t get the whole “feminization” thing though. Are you objecting to the Church trying to promote the role of women against the the obvious limitations that the Church puts on them? I have to be honest and say that is coming across as a bit sexist and I am not crusader in that area by any means.

I can’t agree with your comparison to Islam. Yes, young Islamic men are willing to die for a radical version of their religion. We call them terrorists. They are also eager, not just willing, to slaughter innocent women and children. Is that the ideal you are putting forth as an example?

But I questioned my faith in my early 20’s and I still have some questions today. You have to work those issues out, I get that.
 
TINYAD said:
In my boyhood, the women were given the rear portion of the church and the males in the front.

The males do not watch a single woman’s face during the Mass.
Click to expand...
Where exactly are you from? That has not been the case in USA Roman Catholic church to my knowledge during my entire lifetime, my grandparents’ lifetime, and probably my great-grandparents’ lifetime, which would take us back to the 1880s. Women and men did not sit in separate sections at Roman Catholic Mass. At least not based on gender - they might have been separated by the fact that people would sit with their famliies and if you weren’t part of a person’s family, you weren’t expected to be barging up into their pew.

Edited to add, I understand they did separate the attendees by gender in Mexico, so it’s possible that in the US churches in the Southwest, they may have followed this practice. My family was all in other parts of the US and also some in Canada - wasn’t done there.
 
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Yes, Tis_Bearself ,

The practice in Syro-Malabar rite of the Roman Catholic Church, of Kerala, India.
Probably till 1970s the practice continued very striclty.
Even now, many churches practice it, though not not very strictly.
It has got its own advantages and disadvantages.
Some churches, we need to remove our slippers. Respecting the holiness of the church. Debatable, but this practice is comfortably practiced, without any murmur.

Think. Halleluia
 
Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I understand that in India this was and often continues to be the practice, that the women and men are separated.
 
I suppose for boys where this is practiced they sit with their mothers while young but join the men when old enough, I guess that could seem like a rite of passage.
 
The question is how best we can perform the WORSHIP during the Holy Mass.
Whether men and women separated or being together. Debatable.
Focussing back on the subject at stake, is feminization discouraging young men to leave the church.
Personally, it should not. We are simply brothers and sisters. If all come with that attitude, it will turn out to be good, else is a disaster.
 
Probably a better one than being confirmed in a majority girl ceremony. That said I think you would struggle big time to introduce this to the UK.
 
Since it is based n the culture and traditions, one need not be unduly perturbed by the practice elsewhere. but if one find something really good in that practice, try it out. Feel for yourself.
The men on one side and the women on the other. This is the case with several churches in Kerala.
The uniqueness of the gender is respected and taken into account for better performance during the greatest WORSHIP on the earth, the Holy Mass.
 
I just wouldn’t envy any priest who tried to bring it in, apart from public toilets, hospital wards and changing rooms sex segregation is somewhat frowned upon.
 
TINYAD said:
Ill dressed people will be looked down upon. In fact nobody dare to come.

Then the terrifying DISTORTION, in the name of freedom, inculturation, openness, gender equality, giving the worst sinner the front seat, etc, etc.
Click to expand...
I don’t see the value in scaring away people who can’t afford to dress up.
 
DaddyGirl said:
The church has become “feminized”?

All you see up front are priests, popes, cardinals, apostles, Jesus, saints–mostly males.

I imagine that a male Catholic who believes that Jesus is the son of god and believes in the sacraments and in heaven and hell is not going to let a little thing like a lot of women in the pews keep him from eternity in heaven.

That would be…ridiculous.

To me, that would mean he just doesn’t believe.
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Exactly. If I don’t go to church, that’s on me. But if a man doesn’t go to church, it’s because women have taken over? Balderdash.
My parish has no shortage of men serving in various capacities, even though women also do. Because these men are faithful Catholics. And the boys are serving at the altar right beside the girls. gasp!
 
ConfusedLucy said:
I just wouldn’t envy any priest who tried to bring it in, apart from public toilets, hospital wards and changing rooms sex segregation is somewhat frowned upon.
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I’m sorry, but I don’t think any practice that encourages treating men and women differently based on their gender is consistent with Catholicism.
CCC 1934: Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.
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“I don’t think any practice that encourages treating men and women differently based on their gender is consistent with Catholicism”

lol
 
I’ve read that this was common in medieval days, but women would sit on one side and men on the other .
And yeah, it was to cut down on shenanigans.
 
I’m not a feminist but I dislike it a bit when someone takes a triumphalist view of religion, a very male view of heroism, war, “balls”. I dislike it. Cheating on their wives? I think that is not very correct. Not politically, but morally correct.
 
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