The change has finally happened. Females will now be permitted to become serve at Mass at the discretion of their pastors. News reports were flying about yesterday, and this morning’s Free Lance-Star interviewed Fr. Don Rooney over at St. Mary, with an article here.
Naturally, I have some thoughts on the issue.
Firstly, the traditional role of the acolyte during Mass was to prepare young men for the seminary, or at the very least introduce young men to the idea of the priesthood.
Secondly, there is no such thing as a female acolyte. Acolytes traditionally have been reserved for young men. The distinction has been that while women may be able to serve during the Mass as altar servers, only the young men are acolytes.
Semantic? Perhaps so. The common criticism of females serving during the Mass is that it has been long used by progressive and heterodox proponents of female priestesses. If the role of having young men serve during the Mass was to recruit new priests, the role of young women serving during the Mass would be… quite similar.
So let’s start by explaining what this is, and what this is not. In a 2001 letter, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS?), Cardinal Estevez wrote concerning the question of female servers:
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 nonordained 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, 4; cf. also Canon 228.1; interdicasterial instruction “Ecclesiae de Mysterio,” Aug. 15, 1997, 4; see Notitia 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.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, not is it a condemnation of the practice.
ZENIT had an article concerning the use of female altar servers in a February 2004 interview with Father Edward McNamara, a professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum. On the question of female altar servers:
A further clarifying letter published in 2001 said priests are not compelled to have girls serve at the altar, even when their bishops grant permission.
The 1994 letter states: “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.”
The letter also recommends to bishops to consider “among other things the sensibilities of the faithful, the reasons which would motivate such permission and the different liturgical settings and congregations which gather for the Holy Mass.”
Therefore the Holy See’s recommendation is to retain as far as possible the custom of having only boys as servers. But it leaves to the bishop the choice of permitting women and girls for a good reason and to the pastor of each parish the decision as to whether to act on the bishop’s permission.
So what does Fr. McNamara recommend?
It is important not to focus this debate using political categories such as rights, equality, discrimination, etc., which only serves to fog the issue. We are dealing with the privilege of serving in an act of worship to which nobody has any inherent rights.
Quite different from what we read in the Free Lance-Star article, where Ms. Rea Howarth of Catholics Speak Out gave her thoughts:
“Hallelujah,” said Rea Howarth of Front Royal, who is active in Catholics Speak Out, a group that encourages reform in the Catholic Church. “Long we have waited.”
Howarth said her 21-year-old daughter had wanted to be an altar girl since she was 8, and eventually decided not to be confirmed in the church because she could not serve.
Stop for just a minute.
You mean to explain to me that someone refused to become Catholic on the sole basis of being disallowed to serve during Mass?
Quite contrary to the Vatican directives above, yes?
Thus we come to the crux of the argument: is this really about service to the Church, or is this more about pushing for a change that can never occue (that of female ordination to the priesthood)?
Though in the ZENIT article there is some discussion about the propriety and distinction between institutional participation in the Mass (priests, acolytes, etc) and lay participation (extraordinary ministers, altar servers), do the proponents of female altar servers really care about that distinction?
Let’s go back to our friend from Front Royal and the organization she participated in: Catholics Speak Out. Their mission?
Catholics Speak Out (CSO), a program of the Quixote Center, encourages reform in the Roman Catholic Church and adult responsibility for faith. In particular, the project works towards equality and justice within the Church and dialogue between the laity and hierarchy on issues of sexuality, sexual orientation and reproduction.
Oh really?
The website has commentary critical of Pope Benedict XVI and the late Pope John Paul II, condemning the ban on homosexual seminarians, and yes — even has a topic header in support of women’s ordination (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Now we come to the point. What is this campaign for female acolytes really about? Service to the Church, or female ordination?
Given the historical role of the acolyte during the Mass, and given that any institution of female altar servers will only serve to confuse the faithful and encourage those critical of Pope John Paul II’s stand on priestly ordination, there can only be but one answer.
No.
I would encourage those in the Arlington Diocese – if you feel strongly about this – to write your pastor and ask him not to allow female altar servers during the Mass. Don’t be contrary, don’t be adversarial.
Do be firm. The state of the Catholic Church in America has long been an embarassment to Catholics worldwide. Perhaps a message that expresses the Catholic mind in Arlington from our priests is what His Excellency wants to hear?
UPDATE: Here is a great article on the strength of vocations in the Diocese of Arlington, largely attributed to the tradition of using the position of acolyte to foster vocations.
This runs contrary to the notion vocations to the priesthood are linked to the admission of female altar servers — in fact, the trend is quite the reverse.