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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
In most of our Masses we don’t even have enough. We might have an alter boy or girl AND an adult…
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irishpatrick
Guest
Yes, but the Vatican sure acknowledges that boy altar serving does encourage vocations to the Priesthood, yet you seem to want to ignore that. I would understand you ignoring my views, yet statements by the Vatican should hold some merit.
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
And yet the Pope thanked all the servers…girls included…so that should weigh in also…to be fair…
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irishpatrick
Guest
I doubt many are turned away, but girls entering the altar server ranks often means there is not a need for additional servers, which in turn means that no parish call will be put out for boys to join…that is the part you are missing. There might be plenty of “bodies” to fill the server needs, but a large percentage are females, which means many boys are NOT needed. Boys won’t step-up for something like that unless they see a reason, or their parents force them to.
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irishpatrick
Guest
To all,
Thank you for the chat. I am done with this topic.
Thank you for the chat. I am done with this topic.
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bmadamsberry
Guest
Paragraph 1: I know that they are on seperate teams for sports, which is why I was suggesting that they seperate the boys and girls altar servers so they don’t serve at the same Mass. In regards to boys going easier on girls… I have sometimes seen this, and when this happens the boys usually lose. Again, seperate the two groups so that boys have no excuse not to become altar servers if they want to. They will not be serving “with girls”.Boys and girls are typically on seperate teams for sports, and when they do play together the boys will normally go easier on the girls. That is just true. As for seperating the genders, that does no good because we want more boys imvolved and we need to create the atmosphere to encourage their involvement.
Your second paragraph is proved wrong by Vatican statements that make it clear male altar servers HAS led to vocations.
Your third paragraph is in support of my view and it erases everything you said before it. You readily admit in that paragraph that being an altar server strenghtens someone’s desire to be a priest, since you acknowledge that obvious truth, than you should have the humility to take back everything else you wrote and admit that the Church and the Priesthood is better served by having an all male altar serving corp.
Paragraph 2: I apologize to the people at the Vatican, but the Church is only infallible in faith and morals, not statistics. I have not been given anything that shows that male altar servers leads directly to vocations.
Paragraph 3: You are horribly taking what I said out of context. I said that it might strengthen a boy’s desire to be a priest, but I did not say that it would directly lead him to it. You totally ignore my analogy to co-ed schooling. I also did not state how strongly it might strengthen their desire. But here’s the thing… if someone has a desire to join the priesthood already, then they’re probably going to try and become an altar server anyway.
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Julianna
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Kinda reminds me of the many candidates I have sponsored for Confirmation. Year after year I sat listening to the Bishop give his “Boys, we need you” speech and not say one word to the girls who were sitting there too, newly confirmed in the Church. The girls I guess were not needed.
I find it odd that “boys” are “intimidated” by little girls and won’t “man-up” and serve. They have the “privelege” as well. Sounds kinda wimpy to me.
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curlycool89
Guest
No it’s not. How do you know that one less female alter server doesn’t just means one less alter server? Common sense tells me that that’s way more likely.Common sense. Parishes do not need unlimited numbers of servers…do the math.
I agree, and that’s the engineer in me. The Vatican can say what it wants with statistics, but I want to see the data. I want to see the studies. I want to be able to assess their methodology. One of the key points in science is reproducibility too.
I have to admit, there have been several cringe worthy statements from the Vatican regarding “X equals Y” (I really hope that when the Pope said that “condoms = more AIDS” he actually had read that Harvard study and wasn’t just saying it).
I agree. Maybe the problem isn’t girl alter servers, maybe it starts with the parents at home. Let’s not make any mistake, at that age it’s the parent who’s signing the kids up for these things. When I was younger, you got put in stuff and you were glad you had stuff to do (soccer, basketball, alter serving). Maybe parents are the ones who need to step up and get the boys involved.
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archangel04
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I think this is terrible news. Allowing women to be altar servers was a grand mistake. I was an altar boy for 10 years and quickly saw the difference when it was all boys at my parish to then all girls, now you are lucky if you even see boys serving at the altar at my parish. Many people think it’s cute that their doughters are serving, well it’s not, this postion was always meant for boys, to find their vocation and to be closer to God at a really young age. Being an altar server today is seen as a “phase to have my kids look cute up at the altar” and not something of a privlage for boys who can learn to become Chrsitian men.
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curlycool89
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You know, I have to disagree with the idea that alter serving should be used as a “vocation pool”. That is not the age to be discerning a vocation. If kids that age feel a call to something, then great! But that doesn’t mean that parents shouldn’t let their kids explore other careers and options. The last thing we want is a bunch of priests who hate what they do or people who are unhappy because they felt like they were forced into their vocation. God doesn’t force anyone into a vocation.
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pnewton
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Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!And you expected what? The Spanish Inquisition?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/Spanish_Inquisition_(Monty_Python).jpg/220px-Spanish_Inquisition_(Monty_Python).jpg%between%
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pnewton
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I was thinking of this topic last night and I was am of the opinion of what some people are seeing as cause and effect are really two effects from the same cause. Vocations arise first and foremost from families who raise their children to attend Mass, CCE, receive the Sacraments and serve the parish in whatever capacity one can. It is the parents who promote vocations first. Parents today too often allow major decisions to be made by the children, instead of making decisions for the children when they are young. We do not “raise up a child in the way they should go”, then wonder why as they get older they depart the faith. The idea that a boy would be allowed to let girls serving the altar deter him just screams at me a bigger question: why is this boy being allowed to make such a decision himself? Do we let children decide the do not want to clean their rooms, mow the lawn, wash the dishes? Regretably, some do. For me and my family, serving the Church is a family chore. The parish is part of our extended family and one way or another, we each will pull our own weight. This is what fosters vocations.
No, I do not think girl altar servers are a big factor at all. The duty to serve the Church is not emphasized enough. Priest are demonized in the media and the respect for this noble vocation is not taught at home. These are far more serious issues.
No, I do not think girl altar servers are a big factor at all. The duty to serve the Church is not emphasized enough. Priest are demonized in the media and the respect for this noble vocation is not taught at home. These are far more serious issues.
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bmadamsberry
Guest
Boys and girls have different roles, but they also share some roles as well. For example, both can be consecrated celibates. They can’t both be priest, but they can both be altar servers.
In regards to your second paragraph, I think that they can be taught that there are different roles to be had in other occasions. Mass should not be a political tool, but rather a worshiping tool.
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
Lots of things encourage vocations to the priesthood. There’s youth leadership positions available in youth ministry that also serve that function. There’s also a need for “behind the scenes” people during the holy seasons and boys interested in vocations are perfect fits for that. Altar Serving is the oldest way to get males interested in vocations, but its not alone.
Secondly, in the West atleast, we no longer live in a world where seminary begins in high school. Children don’t need to discern whether to enter high school seminary. The advantages of all male altar servers aren’t what they used to be because there can be up to a decade long gap (or longer!) between their service at the altar and when they seriously consider entering seminary.
I don’t think anyone is ignoring what the Vatican has had to say, we’re just placing it in a different context or overall picture.
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jamanne
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I am sixty five years old raised in Scotland live in Canada .i am stunned to learn that just by gender I was ever classed as" impure"did Christ ever say this if so , where? How dare any clergy take it on themselves to insinuate that their mothers ,sisters or daughters are less 
ure’ than them by virtue of gender .what an insult to the Lord that made us all man ,women ,and in betweensThe reason there,s a lack of alter boys is the embarrassment of the pedophile scandal ,most young boys have to be cajoled into serving even if they feel they want to , blame the 'impure 'male clergy for this situation .these archaic statements about impure women make me ill.Just a thought I wonder how the men would do after five minutes of child bearing , the same heroes who can,t pass a a dentist office without fainting or get a flu shot without throwing up.but pushing females off the alter makes them feel important anne
ure’ than them by virtue of gender .what an insult to the Lord that made us all man ,women ,and in betweensThe reason there,s a lack of alter boys is the embarrassment of the pedophile scandal ,most young boys have to be cajoled into serving even if they feel they want to , blame the 'impure 'male clergy for this situation .these archaic statements about impure women make me ill.Just a thought I wonder how the men would do after five minutes of child bearing , the same heroes who can,t pass a a dentist office without fainting or get a flu shot without throwing up.but pushing females off the alter makes them feel important anne
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canadianguy1143
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Nobody is saying that a boy should discern a vocation while as an altar server. The point that was being made that being exposed to life as an altar server would help that young man later in life when discerning a vocation to the Priesthood.
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CatholicFireman
Guest
Oh, you know this as a fact? Talk about an archaic statement, I’m about sick of the secular world, let alone a catholic broad brushing the sex scandals as the reason for everything. Stop going back to the “cure all” (or drop back and punt) answer to a question nobody know the answer to. How about staying on track with this thread?
And you wonder why the last thread on this subject was closed.
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pnewton
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I think the point was totally valid and on that you actually support when you say “cure all” and “reason for everything”. While priests are no more likely than anyone else to commit a sex crime, the media sure paints priests as worse. If you say that this is always popping up as a reason for everything, then this constant barage by the news surely may have an effect on parents and boys. Or do you propose that most people in the world are unaffected by media attacks?Oh, you know this as a fact? Talk about an archaic statement, I’m about sick of the secular world, let alone a catholic broad brushing the sex scandals as the reason for everything. Stop going back to the “cure all” (or drop back and punt) answer to a question nobody know the answer to. How about staying on track with this thread?
And you wonder why the last thread on this subject was closed.
In any case. It is on track with this thread, far more than the generalized attack against anything “modernist”. If you disagree, that is what the report feature is for.
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dixieagle
Guest
Your use of the term “broad” is crude and offensive. Shame on you.Oh, you know this as a fact? Talk about an archaic statement, I’m about sick of the secular world, let alone a catholic broad brushing the sex scandals as the reason for everything. Stop going back to the “cure all” (or drop back and punt) answer to a question nobody know the answer to. How about staying on track with this thread?
And you wonder why the last thread on this subject was closed.
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CatholicFireman
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Now step back and reread the text. Ready?
“…let alone a catholic pause here broad brushing * separate word*…” I wasn’t calling her a “catholic broad”.
Unbelievable. :banghead:
Maybe you should take the time to read the text before you start wagging your finger at me.
Shame on you.
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