JUST THE FACTS, PLEASE, ON ALTAR GIRLS
By HELEN HULL HITCHCOCK
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MUCH confusion surrounds the liturgical ministry of women--and much misinformation also. The misinformation breeds further confusion, hurt feelings, and divisions within parishes. Many Catholics worry that a novel liturgical practice is being introduced in their parishes without approval of the Universal Church. Others don't see the point of all the fuss.
Following are real-life questions received by Women for Faith & Family. The answers may clarify the issues, promote understanding of some reasons for the prohibition of girls and women from serving in the role of acolyte, and explain why we should be concerned about observing the Church's laws and discipline.
"In my parish we have been told that altar girls are now officially permitted. Is this true?"
No. The directive covering the liturgical ministry of women is given in the official liturgical instruction Inaestimabile Donum (no. 18), which says, "There are various roles that women can perform in the liturgical assembly: These include reading the word of God and proclaiming the intentions of the prayer of the faithful. Women are not, however, permitted to act as altar servers."
These instructions are binding, and in full force. Furthermore, the 1983 Code of Canon Law states:
"Since he must protect the unity of the Universal Church, the bishop is bound to promote the common discipline of the whole Church and therefore to urge the observance of all ecclesiastical laws" (can. 292:1).
"He is to be watchful lest abuses creep into ecclesiastical discipline, especially concerning the ministry of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, the worship of God and devotion to the saints, and also the administration of property" (canon 292:2).
These statements provide a basis for protecting the liturgy from such innovations as females performing the role of acolyte. Not even a bishop has the authority to make any changes which conflict with the law of the Universal Church.
"In my parish girls dressed in albs carry candles and the processional cross, but they are not called 'altar servers' because they do not hand the cruets to the priest at Mass. Isn't this okay?"
Some local liturgists interpret the laws this way, but permission has not been given for girls or women to perform these tasks. The Vatican has repeatedly attempted to clarify this.
In November, 1989, for example, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the U.S., then-Archbishop (now Cardinal) Pio Laghi, emphasized that "altar server" as used in Inaestimabile Donum "includes those functions traditionally associated with serving as altar server, thurifer, candlebearer, and crossbearer, and other such functions. ... In all matters regarding the liturgy, the local bishop is to be consulted since he is responsible for promoting and deepening the liturgical life of the diocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium n. 41)."
In a 1991 letter, signed by Msgr. C. Sepe, the Vatican Secretariat of State wrote:
"I am writing in reply to your letter to the Holy Father concerning the possibility of girls acting as altar servers. The Church's traditional discipline in this regard was reaffirmed in the instruction Inaestimabile Donum, issued by the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship on April 3, 1980, and it remains in force."
"The pastoral minister in our parish told us that there are no theological reasons why women cannot be ordained, and certainly there is no reason why girls cannot be altar servers. She has recruited girls from our parish school to be servers at Mass."
Your pastoral minister is mistaken. Even if she does not understand the theological reasons for restriction of the ordained priesthood to certain men, or the reason girls and women may not serve in the role of acolyte, that does not mean there are none.
The Pope has offered theological reasons for the Church's prohibition of "women priests" in Christifidelis Laici and other documents. He has emphasized that this restriction "represents the mind of Christ," who could have chosen women as apostles if he wanted to. He has also said that this is a matter of essential Catholic belief and cannot change.
Although who may serve the priest at Mass is a discipline of the Church, not a dogma, one theological reason which has been advanced to support the constant tradition of the Church in this matter is that the altar server's function is to directly serve the priest, who acts "in the person of Christ" (in persona Christi), so the server is actually an "extension of the priest's hands" when, for example, he hands the cruets to the priest.
It is important for us to realize that the Church does not fully develop theological positions until a particular teaching or practice is challenged. Only now, after nearly two thousand years of Church history, has the teaching and practice of the Church regarding the male priesthood and connected liturgical roles been questioned.
The theological reasons for the restrictions will become more fully developed over time. But we must realize that theological arguments that everyone will find persuasive are not necessary for a teaching, discipline, or practice to be true and binding on all Catholics.
"I am a [female] lector in my parish and I am thankful that I am allowed to do this, but I understand that Church law forbids it. Do we have to observe Church law regarding altar servers?"
Yes, all Catholics--bishops, clergy, and laity--must observe Church law. Part of the confusion about roles for women in liturgical ministry is that in the past both lectors and acolytes were "minor orders"; both required ordination. Laity could not perform these functions.
In recent times the "minor orders" were abolished, and the role of lector was open to lay men. Many years ago the liturgical role of altar server once performed only by ordained acolytes came to be given to boys. More recently, permission was given to the bishops in the Church in the United States to allow lay women to function as lectors, although nuns, particularly in cloistered convents, had earlier been permitted to serve as lectors for their convent Masses.
Allowing boys to serve in the role of acolyte has been a rich source of vocations to the priesthood. As you know, altar boys wear priestly vestments (just as ordained acolytes had done) and come to know intimately the text and structure of the Mass and often learn the prayers of the liturgy and the Canon of the Mass by heart. They are taught their duties and are formed by their parish priest, who becomes a powerful role model for them.
One of the distinctive things about the Catholic Church in this country has been the relatively vigorous piety of men. In other churches (and in other countries) religion often comes to be regarded as mostly women's business. Probably one reason for the remarkable participation of Catholic men in the life of the Church in America is attributable to their having been trained to be altar boys.
"Two of my sons have been altar boys for several years, and it has always been important to them. This year our parish has started an altar girl program, and my sons now want to quit."
You bring up one of the serious problems with including girls as altar servers. The effect of changing the norms to allow girl servers (even if they are only crossbearers or candlebearers) will likely lead to further feminization of the Church. Human nature being what it is, pre-teenage boys and girls do not always mix well. This is a stage in development during which most boys strongly prefer the company of members of their own sex (notable on sports teams, in scouting clubs, and so on). While this is also true of girls to some extent, girls have less resistance to associating with boys than vice versa. The existence of this dynamic has not been acknowledged by the promoters of girls as acolytes.
"I recently attended a parish Mass where, I became aware, the only male present was the priest, and he was entirely surrounded by several adult women wearing vestments who were serving the Mass. The choir, the readers, the extraordinary ministers, and the entire congregation were women. I overheard one woman saying that it would be a perfect Mass if only they didn't have to have the priest's 'magic words.' I was very distressed."
The comment you overheard is typical of those that appear in the writings of Catholic feminists. They claim the Church is an "oppressive, patriarchal structure" and maintain that the priesthood itself, because it is hierarchical, is the main obstacle to achieving equality for women in the Church.
Members of feminist groups that formed the Women's Ordination Conference, (WATER), Women Church, the Quixote Center, New Ways Ministries, and other feminist groups and individuals, have advocated ordination of women as a matter of justice and equal rights.
Today most of these women say they no longer want to be ordained into the "defective structure" of the Church, although they still regard expanding the liturgical roles women may perform as an important objective in achieving the kind of reform they desire. Feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether has said, "We don't want a piece of the pie, we want a whole new recipe." Sr. Sandra Schneiders, who teaches at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, has written a book, Beyond Patching, which argues that the Church is so defective that it cannot be "patched," but must be discarded entirely and "rewoven."
Among the short-term goals of feminist reformers is the authorization of female altar servers. They realize the significance of people becoming accustomed to seeing women wearing vestments and performing functions formerly reserved to men and clergy. They understand the power of ritual and symbol well.
While Catholic feminists (of both sexes) are only a small percentage of the Catholic population, many hold leadership positions in the Church. Many are in Catholic schools, seminaries, and publishing houses. They are liturgists and theology professors, and they lead countless workshops on feminist spirituality. They have nearly instant access to the media and financial resources. Thus they have influence far beyond their numbers.
"My sons are not interested in being altar boys, but my daughter is, and some of her girlfriends are servers. How can I tell her she is not allowed by the Church to serve this way when Sister is saying the opposite?"
Parents have a difficult job in cases like this, and their jobs are made more difficult when other authority figures contradict them. It is hard for parents, who cannot be expected to be experts on liturgy or Church law, to explain such matters. It is most unfortunate and confusing when the various authorities conflict. This is one reason why the refusal on the part of an individual in a position of authority, whether a pastoral minister or a priest, to conform to the clear norms established by the Church causes so much distress and even scandal to the faithful.
As parents know in other matters, that "everybody else does it" or "sister says . . ." does not make something right. Even if you are not qualified to explain theological nuances to your child, you have an opportunity, in this case, to say something about the importance of obedience--in this case obedience to what the highest authorities in the Church have been saying repeatedly for several years. Eventually all children will have to learn that even adults make mistakes. Your child will have to be told that Sister is in error.
"Our parish has just started to have altar girls. This really bothers us, but our pastor says this has been approved by the diocesan liturgical office and we should be open to change. If we voice our objections, we know we'll just be branded as "right-wing nuts" and it probably won't do any good anyway. Should we speak out, or should we keep quiet and find another parish?"
There is no easy answer. You are obliged to voice your concern (not your anger) to the pastor and, if necessary, to call the matter to the attention of your bishop. Your personal responsibility for the pastor's error ends there. The bishop cannot correct a situation he does not know about, so you may have to give him the information he needs. Correcting the mistakes of a parish priest is, ultimately, the bishop's responsibility.
Nobody likes to be called names or to be stereotyped and disregarded. Even if you discharge your obligation in a manner of great charity, you may well find yourself branded a "right-wing nut." If it's any consolation, you'll be in good company: Some folks call John Paul II and Mother Teresa similar names.
"We just got a new assistant, and now all the readings are being changed to 'gender-neutral' language. He changes the parts of the Mass where God is addressed as 'Father,' and he's asked several fifth- and sixth-grade girls to be altar girls. He says the Pope approves of altar girls and they have them at St. Peter's. Can this be true?"
The Holy Father does not approve of altar girls--otherwise he would have acceded to the request of those few bishops (mainly from the U. S., Canada, and Western Europe) who some years ago asked to be allowed to open ministries not requiring ordination, (including altar servers) to girls and women. He has not given permission.
The rules remain in effect, as evidenced by the many individual letters which have continued to issue from Vatican authorities to bishops and others about the matter. Although the Pope can't personally supervise every liturgy--not even the ones in St. Peter's--the story (which we have heard, too) that altar girls serve Masses at St. Peter' s is not true.
"Our bishop has been told about the use of altar girls in our parish and in several other parishes in our diocese. When he has responded to documented complaints, he has repeated the Vatican prohibition, but he will not stop the practice. What's going on here?"
We will not try to second-guess your bishop's motives in what seems to be self-contradiction. Most bishops want to avoid trouble and hope to preserve at least the appearance of unity in their dioceses. Sometimes it takes a great deal more courage than most of us have to risk criticism, and only very strong convictions can give us the courage to do what is right in spite of opposition from those around us.
As parents know well, it is often easier to give a disobedient child his way than to risk the embarrassment of a public scene. In the Church, as in families, there is often a desire for peace at any price. The Church has become a target for destructive criticism in the media and elsewhere, and most bishops avoid controversy. They generally want to avoid getting bashed in the newspapers. As we know from our own experience, it is also easier to pass the buck or to look the other way instead of forthrightly and promptly dealing with a problem.
"I'm confused. I'm a student at a Catholic university, and I think it is of utmost importance to accept Church teachings. But I was an altar girl in my parish at home. I liked being part of the action at Mass and, frankly, I didn't know that there was anything wrong with it until now."
You surely were acting in good faith. Church law is different from civil law in that, in the Church, acting in ignorance of the law is a valid excuse. You could not have been expected to know, when you were part of a parish altar server program, that whoever initiated it was acting in contradiction to the discipline of the Church.
It's not pleasant to think that you have been used to promote disobedience to Church teaching. That is one reason why this illicit practice is so damaging and genuinely unfair to the girls who are being made, in effect, hostages by those who advocate sweeping changes in the Church. No bishop or priest relishes the idea of discouraging youngsters who have shown interest in their faith, as you did, and whose intention was good, even if the action was improper. Consideration for the girls' feelings is frequently cited as a reason not to insist on upholding Church law.
Some liturgical reformers are so convinced that they are right and the Church is wrong that they are willing to put a young person's faith at risk to accomplish their own objectives. This is unjust to the girls involved and to everybody else who is attempting, as you are, to live by the teachings and discipline of the Church.
"I personally don't like the idea of altar girls, but that may be just my own prejudice. Why all the fuss about who hands a couple of cruets to the priest? If the priest and the girls and the congregation don't see anything wrong with it, why not let them do it?"
The altar girl problem is a manifestation of a fundamental conflict within the Catholic Church over the nature of the Church and its claim to authority. The problem focuses squarely on the meaning, value, and legitimacy of the Church's hierarchy.
Contemporary Catholic "reformers," like their Protestant counterparts at the time of the Reformation, reject the binding authority of the magisterium (the teaching power of the pope and the bishops united with him). They view the magisterium as oppressive, unjust, and obscurantist. What is more, they argue for "adaptation" of religious truth to conform to the will of "the People of God" or to one's own individual convictions or conscience.
What is at stake here is whether the Catholic Church is what it has always claimed to be, whether the Church has at least as much right as any other human institution to make demands of its members, and whether the Church's essential teachings are eternally true.
If the answer to these questions is "yes," then the Church's members are required to live up to its teachings and abide by its laws. If the answer is "no"--if religious truth is a construct of a particular time or culture or is a matter of individual perception--then we are not talking about the same Church, the same God, the same Savior, the same salvation. It's as simple and as profoundly complex as that.
Following are real-life questions received by Women for Faith & Family. The answers may clarify the issues, promote understanding of some reasons for the prohibition of girls and women from serving in the role of acolyte, and explain why we should be concerned about observing the Church's laws and discipline.
"In my parish we have been told that altar girls are now officially permitted. Is this true?"
No. The directive covering the liturgical ministry of women is given in the official liturgical instruction Inaestimabile Donum (no. 18), which says, "There are various roles that women can perform in the liturgical assembly: These include reading the word of God and proclaiming the intentions of the prayer of the faithful. Women are not, however, permitted to act as altar servers."
These instructions are binding, and in full force. Furthermore, the 1983 Code of Canon Law states:
"Since he must protect the unity of the Universal Church, the bishop is bound to promote the common discipline of the whole Church and therefore to urge the observance of all ecclesiastical laws" (can. 292:1).
"He is to be watchful lest abuses creep into ecclesiastical discipline, especially concerning the ministry of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, the worship of God and devotion to the saints, and also the administration of property" (canon 292:2).
These statements provide a basis for protecting the liturgy from such innovations as females performing the role of acolyte. Not even a bishop has the authority to make any changes which conflict with the law of the Universal Church.
"In my parish girls dressed in albs carry candles and the processional cross, but they are not called 'altar servers' because they do not hand the cruets to the priest at Mass. Isn't this okay?"
Some local liturgists interpret the laws this way, but permission has not been given for girls or women to perform these tasks. The Vatican has repeatedly attempted to clarify this.
In November, 1989, for example, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the U.S., then-Archbishop (now Cardinal) Pio Laghi, emphasized that "altar server" as used in Inaestimabile Donum "includes those functions traditionally associated with serving as altar server, thurifer, candlebearer, and crossbearer, and other such functions. ... In all matters regarding the liturgy, the local bishop is to be consulted since he is responsible for promoting and deepening the liturgical life of the diocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium n. 41)."
In a 1991 letter, signed by Msgr. C. Sepe, the Vatican Secretariat of State wrote:
"I am writing in reply to your letter to the Holy Father concerning the possibility of girls acting as altar servers. The Church's traditional discipline in this regard was reaffirmed in the instruction Inaestimabile Donum, issued by the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship on April 3, 1980, and it remains in force."
"The pastoral minister in our parish told us that there are no theological reasons why women cannot be ordained, and certainly there is no reason why girls cannot be altar servers. She has recruited girls from our parish school to be servers at Mass."
Your pastoral minister is mistaken. Even if she does not understand the theological reasons for restriction of the ordained priesthood to certain men, or the reason girls and women may not serve in the role of acolyte, that does not mean there are none.
The Pope has offered theological reasons for the Church's prohibition of "women priests" in Christifidelis Laici and other documents. He has emphasized that this restriction "represents the mind of Christ," who could have chosen women as apostles if he wanted to. He has also said that this is a matter of essential Catholic belief and cannot change.
Although who may serve the priest at Mass is a discipline of the Church, not a dogma, one theological reason which has been advanced to support the constant tradition of the Church in this matter is that the altar server's function is to directly serve the priest, who acts "in the person of Christ" (in persona Christi), so the server is actually an "extension of the priest's hands" when, for example, he hands the cruets to the priest.
It is important for us to realize that the Church does not fully develop theological positions until a particular teaching or practice is challenged. Only now, after nearly two thousand years of Church history, has the teaching and practice of the Church regarding the male priesthood and connected liturgical roles been questioned.
The theological reasons for the restrictions will become more fully developed over time. But we must realize that theological arguments that everyone will find persuasive are not necessary for a teaching, discipline, or practice to be true and binding on all Catholics.
"I am a [female] lector in my parish and I am thankful that I am allowed to do this, but I understand that Church law forbids it. Do we have to observe Church law regarding altar servers?"
Yes, all Catholics--bishops, clergy, and laity--must observe Church law. Part of the confusion about roles for women in liturgical ministry is that in the past both lectors and acolytes were "minor orders"; both required ordination. Laity could not perform these functions.
In recent times the "minor orders" were abolished, and the role of lector was open to lay men. Many years ago the liturgical role of altar server once performed only by ordained acolytes came to be given to boys. More recently, permission was given to the bishops in the Church in the United States to allow lay women to function as lectors, although nuns, particularly in cloistered convents, had earlier been permitted to serve as lectors for their convent Masses.
Allowing boys to serve in the role of acolyte has been a rich source of vocations to the priesthood. As you know, altar boys wear priestly vestments (just as ordained acolytes had done) and come to know intimately the text and structure of the Mass and often learn the prayers of the liturgy and the Canon of the Mass by heart. They are taught their duties and are formed by their parish priest, who becomes a powerful role model for them.
One of the distinctive things about the Catholic Church in this country has been the relatively vigorous piety of men. In other churches (and in other countries) religion often comes to be regarded as mostly women's business. Probably one reason for the remarkable participation of Catholic men in the life of the Church in America is attributable to their having been trained to be altar boys.
"Two of my sons have been altar boys for several years, and it has always been important to them. This year our parish has started an altar girl program, and my sons now want to quit."
You bring up one of the serious problems with including girls as altar servers. The effect of changing the norms to allow girl servers (even if they are only crossbearers or candlebearers) will likely lead to further feminization of the Church. Human nature being what it is, pre-teenage boys and girls do not always mix well. This is a stage in development during which most boys strongly prefer the company of members of their own sex (notable on sports teams, in scouting clubs, and so on). While this is also true of girls to some extent, girls have less resistance to associating with boys than vice versa. The existence of this dynamic has not been acknowledged by the promoters of girls as acolytes.
"I recently attended a parish Mass where, I became aware, the only male present was the priest, and he was entirely surrounded by several adult women wearing vestments who were serving the Mass. The choir, the readers, the extraordinary ministers, and the entire congregation were women. I overheard one woman saying that it would be a perfect Mass if only they didn't have to have the priest's 'magic words.' I was very distressed."
The comment you overheard is typical of those that appear in the writings of Catholic feminists. They claim the Church is an "oppressive, patriarchal structure" and maintain that the priesthood itself, because it is hierarchical, is the main obstacle to achieving equality for women in the Church.
Members of feminist groups that formed the Women's Ordination Conference, (WATER), Women Church, the Quixote Center, New Ways Ministries, and other feminist groups and individuals, have advocated ordination of women as a matter of justice and equal rights.
Today most of these women say they no longer want to be ordained into the "defective structure" of the Church, although they still regard expanding the liturgical roles women may perform as an important objective in achieving the kind of reform they desire. Feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether has said, "We don't want a piece of the pie, we want a whole new recipe." Sr. Sandra Schneiders, who teaches at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, has written a book, Beyond Patching, which argues that the Church is so defective that it cannot be "patched," but must be discarded entirely and "rewoven."
Among the short-term goals of feminist reformers is the authorization of female altar servers. They realize the significance of people becoming accustomed to seeing women wearing vestments and performing functions formerly reserved to men and clergy. They understand the power of ritual and symbol well.
While Catholic feminists (of both sexes) are only a small percentage of the Catholic population, many hold leadership positions in the Church. Many are in Catholic schools, seminaries, and publishing houses. They are liturgists and theology professors, and they lead countless workshops on feminist spirituality. They have nearly instant access to the media and financial resources. Thus they have influence far beyond their numbers.
"My sons are not interested in being altar boys, but my daughter is, and some of her girlfriends are servers. How can I tell her she is not allowed by the Church to serve this way when Sister is saying the opposite?"
Parents have a difficult job in cases like this, and their jobs are made more difficult when other authority figures contradict them. It is hard for parents, who cannot be expected to be experts on liturgy or Church law, to explain such matters. It is most unfortunate and confusing when the various authorities conflict. This is one reason why the refusal on the part of an individual in a position of authority, whether a pastoral minister or a priest, to conform to the clear norms established by the Church causes so much distress and even scandal to the faithful.
As parents know in other matters, that "everybody else does it" or "sister says . . ." does not make something right. Even if you are not qualified to explain theological nuances to your child, you have an opportunity, in this case, to say something about the importance of obedience--in this case obedience to what the highest authorities in the Church have been saying repeatedly for several years. Eventually all children will have to learn that even adults make mistakes. Your child will have to be told that Sister is in error.
"Our parish has just started to have altar girls. This really bothers us, but our pastor says this has been approved by the diocesan liturgical office and we should be open to change. If we voice our objections, we know we'll just be branded as "right-wing nuts" and it probably won't do any good anyway. Should we speak out, or should we keep quiet and find another parish?"
There is no easy answer. You are obliged to voice your concern (not your anger) to the pastor and, if necessary, to call the matter to the attention of your bishop. Your personal responsibility for the pastor's error ends there. The bishop cannot correct a situation he does not know about, so you may have to give him the information he needs. Correcting the mistakes of a parish priest is, ultimately, the bishop's responsibility.
Nobody likes to be called names or to be stereotyped and disregarded. Even if you discharge your obligation in a manner of great charity, you may well find yourself branded a "right-wing nut." If it's any consolation, you'll be in good company: Some folks call John Paul II and Mother Teresa similar names.
"We just got a new assistant, and now all the readings are being changed to 'gender-neutral' language. He changes the parts of the Mass where God is addressed as 'Father,' and he's asked several fifth- and sixth-grade girls to be altar girls. He says the Pope approves of altar girls and they have them at St. Peter's. Can this be true?"
The Holy Father does not approve of altar girls--otherwise he would have acceded to the request of those few bishops (mainly from the U. S., Canada, and Western Europe) who some years ago asked to be allowed to open ministries not requiring ordination, (including altar servers) to girls and women. He has not given permission.
The rules remain in effect, as evidenced by the many individual letters which have continued to issue from Vatican authorities to bishops and others about the matter. Although the Pope can't personally supervise every liturgy--not even the ones in St. Peter's--the story (which we have heard, too) that altar girls serve Masses at St. Peter' s is not true.
"Our bishop has been told about the use of altar girls in our parish and in several other parishes in our diocese. When he has responded to documented complaints, he has repeated the Vatican prohibition, but he will not stop the practice. What's going on here?"
We will not try to second-guess your bishop's motives in what seems to be self-contradiction. Most bishops want to avoid trouble and hope to preserve at least the appearance of unity in their dioceses. Sometimes it takes a great deal more courage than most of us have to risk criticism, and only very strong convictions can give us the courage to do what is right in spite of opposition from those around us.
As parents know well, it is often easier to give a disobedient child his way than to risk the embarrassment of a public scene. In the Church, as in families, there is often a desire for peace at any price. The Church has become a target for destructive criticism in the media and elsewhere, and most bishops avoid controversy. They generally want to avoid getting bashed in the newspapers. As we know from our own experience, it is also easier to pass the buck or to look the other way instead of forthrightly and promptly dealing with a problem.
"I'm confused. I'm a student at a Catholic university, and I think it is of utmost importance to accept Church teachings. But I was an altar girl in my parish at home. I liked being part of the action at Mass and, frankly, I didn't know that there was anything wrong with it until now."
You surely were acting in good faith. Church law is different from civil law in that, in the Church, acting in ignorance of the law is a valid excuse. You could not have been expected to know, when you were part of a parish altar server program, that whoever initiated it was acting in contradiction to the discipline of the Church.
It's not pleasant to think that you have been used to promote disobedience to Church teaching. That is one reason why this illicit practice is so damaging and genuinely unfair to the girls who are being made, in effect, hostages by those who advocate sweeping changes in the Church. No bishop or priest relishes the idea of discouraging youngsters who have shown interest in their faith, as you did, and whose intention was good, even if the action was improper. Consideration for the girls' feelings is frequently cited as a reason not to insist on upholding Church law.
Some liturgical reformers are so convinced that they are right and the Church is wrong that they are willing to put a young person's faith at risk to accomplish their own objectives. This is unjust to the girls involved and to everybody else who is attempting, as you are, to live by the teachings and discipline of the Church.
"I personally don't like the idea of altar girls, but that may be just my own prejudice. Why all the fuss about who hands a couple of cruets to the priest? If the priest and the girls and the congregation don't see anything wrong with it, why not let them do it?"
The altar girl problem is a manifestation of a fundamental conflict within the Catholic Church over the nature of the Church and its claim to authority. The problem focuses squarely on the meaning, value, and legitimacy of the Church's hierarchy.
Contemporary Catholic "reformers," like their Protestant counterparts at the time of the Reformation, reject the binding authority of the magisterium (the teaching power of the pope and the bishops united with him). They view the magisterium as oppressive, unjust, and obscurantist. What is more, they argue for "adaptation" of religious truth to conform to the will of "the People of God" or to one's own individual convictions or conscience.
What is at stake here is whether the Catholic Church is what it has always claimed to be, whether the Church has at least as much right as any other human institution to make demands of its members, and whether the Church's essential teachings are eternally true.
If the answer to these questions is "yes," then the Church's members are required to live up to its teachings and abide by its laws. If the answer is "no"--if religious truth is a construct of a particular time or culture or is a matter of individual perception--then we are not talking about the same Church, the same God, the same Savior, the same salvation. It's as simple and as profoundly complex as that.
Helen Hull Hitchcock directs Women for Faith & Family, an organization of women devoted to authentic Catholic faith and practice. Information on the issues in this article may be obtained by writing to WFF at P.O. Box 8326, St. Louis, MO 63132.
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