Vatican paper comes in praise of altar girls [John Allen]

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catholic_Press
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Annabelle_Marie said:
😃

Ya…what was the Pope thinking by thanking all the servers.🤷 :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Certainly not what the author of the article was thinking…

The event isn’t much of a news story, at best it is an anecdote whose significance could be batted about with all the weight of a balloon. The article, suggesting that only through being allowed to serve could young women fully participate in the liturgy (false, full participation does not require having the privilege to serve), that only in the last few decades can women fully participate in the life of the Church (false, it can be argued that men are by far more excluded from the fullest expression of Christian Spirituality by bridal imagery, thanks to Origen and medieval monastics), and that the reason women weren’t allowed on the altar is because they were unclean (ridiculous, but Fr Z covered that;)).

The reactions here, however have little to do with any of that and more to do with a chance to go at it again. Certain posters are idealists (myself included, who won’t miss a chance to discuss theory), others seem to take personal affront for not unjustified reasons (usually a girl who hos/does serve or parent thereof), others are sensitive for no *apparent *reason (as if this is an active issue in their parishes).

Grudges get carried from thread to thread and posters constantly try to prove themselves (I guess the internet is a man’s world:thumbsup:) I think it’s the potshots that draw me into the debate more often than not, just can’t let them stand…🤷
 
NewEnglandPries said:
Nothing like picking on little girls to prove how Catholic we are… :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
So after seeing upteen hundred thousand posts complaining about priests not speaking out,
a priest finally does and gets hammered for it (by people who would be the group that would be most likely to support clergy too no less). Hmm, I wonder why priests don’t speak out more often?

At least this threads gone better than the one in Catholic News, where the prevailing opinion seems to be that “if we only got rid of alter girls the vocation crisis would end immediately”.
 
God bless my own priest for not having girls around the altar. We might just end up with some priests out of our altar boys at our parish - can’t have that with a bunch of girls up there.

Look folks - boys and girls are different. Ever notice that? Serving at the altar has always been a path to the priesthood for many priests. Why put girls where they can never be?

I’m a girl - I have not problems with this. I’m not sure why some women always feel the need to pump up the testosterone all the time and feel they have to do EVERYTHING the boys do. I just don’t get it.

~Liza
 
It’s not the little girls’ fault that they are altar servers. At their age, they are under the guidance of their parents and when the call comes out to serve from the coordinators, it can sometimes be mom and dad pushing them.

We are not picking on the children themselves. They are not old enough to know better. Adults, however, are. Unfortunately, not a few woman espouse Ms. Scarrafia’s views. Not a few men also share her viewpoint as well. This is sad. Little girls cannot grow up to be priests, perhaps religious, but, not priests. I am curious, just how many religious vocations to the convent have arisen from young girls serving at the altar?
 
CDNowak said:
Not always liberal, but they have published a lot of nonsense of late (the infamous Beatles article, outdated movie recommendations, dissenting articles on end of life issues).
Click to expand...
So if you don’t like it then its nonsense?
the cause more likely is the dismissive, sarcastic priests.😦
Click to expand...
Nonsense! 😛
Please, Father, show the respect you wish to see. If the clergy can’t discus this rationally what hope is there?😦
Click to expand...
You’re missing the point. Look over all the threads on this issue. There is no rational discussion on the issue. So let’s just blame little girls handling cruets for all that’s wrong with the world and move on, shall we?
 
benedictgal said:
It’s not the little girls’ fault that they are altar servers.
Click to expand...
Why use words like “fault”? The girls aren’t doing anything wrong. Its a legitimate option under canon law.
At their age, they are under the guidance of their parents and when the call comes out to serve from the coordinators, it can sometimes be mom and dad pushing them.
Click to expand...
Sometimes, but in my experience, most of the time the girls want to be altar servers.
We are not picking on the children themselves. They are not old enough to know better. Adults, however, are.
Click to expand...
So now those who are in favor of female altar servers “should know better”? Know better how? Please explain how a legitimate option under Canon Law is somehow something that only those who don’t know any better would allow?
 
benedictgal said:
But, female altar servers is an indult and not codified. It, like CITT, can be rescinded at any time.
Click to expand...
Wrong. It is a legitimate option under the law. The option is codified under Canon 230 #2.

Obviously, all canons that do not involve divine law can be rescinded or revised at any time. That has no relevance to this issue.
 
curlycool89 said:
At least this threads gone better than the one in Catholic News, where the prevailing opinion seems to be that “if we only got rid of alter girls the vocation crisis would end immediately”.
Click to expand...
It will end when the boys recapture the altar and sanctuary again. 🙂
 
NewEnglandPries said:
Wrong. It is a legitimate option under the law. The option is codified under Canon 230 #2.

Obviously, all canons that do not involve divine law can be rescinded or revised at any time. That has no relevance to this issue.
Click to expand...
However, that does not exactly mean altar server insofar as children are concerned. Furthermore, the Code was revised before this indult was granted. In addition, those bishops and pastor who do not allow female altar servers are well within their right.

In 1994, the CDWDS issued a letter stating that bishops are not bound to accept girls at the altar, nor could the particular national episcopal conference impel the Ordinaries to do so. Some seven years later, in 2001, the CDWDS also reaffirmed the priest’s right not to have girls serve at the altar, even if their local bishop permits it. Here is the relevent text from the 2001 letter:
As is clear from the Responsio ad propositum dubium concerning can. 230, § 2, and its authentic interpretation (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, Prot. n. 2482/93 March 15, 1994, see Notitiae 30 [1994] 333-335), the Diocesan Bishop, in his role as moderator of the liturgical life in the diocese entrusted to his care, has the authority to permit service at the altar by women within the boundaries of the territory entrusted to his care. Moreover his liberty in this question cannot be conditioned by claims in favor of a uniformity between his diocese and other dioceses which would logically lead to the removal of the necessary freedom of action from the individual Diocesan Bishop. Rather, after having heard the opinion of the Episcopal Conference, he is to base his prudential judgment upon what he considers to accord more closely with the local pastoral need for an ordered development of the liturgical life in the diocese entrusted to his care, bearing in mind, among other things, the sensibilities of the faithful, the reasons which would motivate such a permission, and the different liturgical settings and congregations which gather for the Holy Mass (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, March 15, 1994, no. 1).
Click to expand...
In accord with the above cited instructions of the Holy See such an authorization may not, in any way, exclude men or, in particular, boys from service at the altar, nor require that priests of the diocese would make use of female altar servers, since “it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar” (Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conference, March 15, 1994, no. 2). Indeed, the obligation to support groups of altar boys will always remain, not least of all due to the well known assistance that such programs have provided since time immemorial in encouraging future priestly vocations (cf. ibid.)
Click to expand...
With respect to whether the practice of women serving at the altar would truly be of pastoral advantage in the local pastoral situation, it is perhaps helpful to recall that the non-ordained faithful do not have a right to service at the altar, rather they are capable of being admitted to such service by the Sacred Pastors (cf. Circular Letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences, March 15, 1994, no. 4, cf. also can 228, §1, Interdicasterial Instruction Esslesiae de mysterio, August 15, 1997, no. 4, see Notitiae 34 [1998] 9-42). Therefore, in the event that Your Excellency found it opportune to authorize service of women at the altar, it would remain important to explain clearly to the faithful the nature of this innovation, lest confusion might be introduced, thereby hampering the development of priestly vocations.
Click to expand...
According to the Zenit quote of the 1994 letter:
It will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue,
Click to expand...
These are the interpretations of the CDWDS, not mine.
 
lizaanne said:
How do you know he’s a priest? :confused:
Click to expand...
It is widely known that NEP is actually a priest.
NewEnglandPries said:
So if you don’t like it then its nonsense?
Click to expand...
The official nonofficial Vatican newspaper forgives the Beatles for the “bigger than Jesus” comment (Ringo Starr’s reaction) (2nd time in two years, btw), Vatican Paper endorses 1980 Blues Brothers film,…in June 2010 (Dan Aykroyd’s reaction).

These and a number of similar articles, are nonsense (relatively harmless, but still nonsense). More seriously the paper has inserted itself into debates (both ad intra and ad extra) where the “official” position of the “Vatican newspaper” caused no little confusion.
40.png
CDNowak:
the cause more likely is the dismissive, sarcastic priests.
Click to expand...
Nonsense! 😛
Click to expand...
I rest my case.
You’re missing the point. Look over all the threads on this issue. There is no rational discussion on the issue. So let’s just blame little girls handling cruets for all that’s wrong with the world and move on, shall we?
Click to expand...
Father, no one blamed little girls on this thread before you made the de facto accusation of such. In fact there was a rational discussion beginning discussing the article in L’Osservatore Romano, which now has little chance of occurring.
 
Oh good grief. You guys didn’t learn when the Mods closed the last thread on this subject? :rolleyes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top