Cathedral's policy change on altar servers ignites discussion
When the news broke that Fr. John Lankeit, rector of Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, was changing policy on altar servers, secular media outlets were quick to offer their take on the development.
From now on at the Phoenix Diocese's cathedral, only boys will be altar servers. Girls who are currently serving in that capacity will have the opportunity to train as sacristans.
"There were about five or six girls who were still serving and I called their parents to explain there would be a transition," Fr. Lankeit said. "I invited them, told them they are welcome right away to begin training as sacristans."
The news may have come as a bit of a shock to some local Catholics, but Fr. Lankeit attributes that to those who are, unknowingly perhaps, more influenced by society rather than by Church teaching.
The decision, he said, is a way to honor the God-given dignity of both men and women. It's also one way to encourage more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
"If you look around the Church — and I'm talking about the overall Church — if you look at dioceses, if you look at religious orders and you look at parishes where they have the clear honoring of the distinction and the complementarity of men and women, you see both vocations flourish," Fr. Lankeit said. "And when I say both vocations, I mean to the priesthood as well as vocations to the consecrated religious life."
He pointed to a parish in Ann Arbor, Mich., as one such example. In 2008, the parish had 22 seminarians, Fr. Lankeit said. He also mentioned the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., which similarly reserves altar service to boys and has seen strong growth in vocations to the priesthood.
Fr. Lankeit understands his decision regarding altar servers may be upsetting to some.
"If the question is approached just from an emotional standpoint, I can understand why people would be upset because they're looking at it terms of a question of rights — and they're interpreting it in such a way that somebody's rights are being denied," he said.
The fact is, Fr. Lakeit said, becoming an altar server is not at all about rights. The same goes, he said, for the priesthood.
"Prior to my ordination, as a single, Catholic man, I had no right whatsoever to the priesthood. And so when I went into the seminary, I was determining whether or not Jesus Christ was calling me to be a priest, but the Church was likewise discerning me and the ultimate decision was the Church's," Fr. Lankeit said. "Even if I felt very, very strongly at the bottom of my heart that I was called to be a priest and the Church didn't recognize that, I had to accept that."
Unfortunately, when the secular world steps in to comment on whether or not altar servers should only be male, the issue is examined from an emotional point of view, rather than considered in light of the reasons behind the decision, he said.
Fr. Lankeit pointed to paragraph 47 of the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, promulgated by the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacrament. The text, he said, confirms something he already knew: the vast majority of men who are priests were once altar servers.
"It is altogether laudable to maintain the noble custom by which boys or youths, customarily termed servers, provide service of the altar after the manner of acolytes, and receive catechesis regarding their function in accordance with their power of comprehension," the instruction reads in part. "Nor should it be forgotten that a great number of sacred ministers over the course of the centuries have come from among boys such as these."
While the Redemptionis Sacramentum says girls or women may be admitted as altar servers, it leaves the decision to the discretion of the local ordinary.
Fr. Paul Sullivan, director of vocations for the Phoenix Diocese, said that pastors, such as Fr. Lankeit, must decide what is best for their parish.
"The pastor has to decide on his end how to form young women and young men," Fr. Sullivan said, "and certainly an area where we need formation is among young men."
Where there is strong formation of young men, Fr. Sullivan said, there are more vocations to the priesthood. He said that kind of formation stresses service and avoids a false egalitarianism and false clericalism.
In other words, he said, it's not about power or competition between the sexes — it's about serving God and forming young people in the faith.
Do young girls who serve at the altar become nuns?
"I haven't seen that evidence," Fr. Sullivan said. "The parish I know that has the most female vocations has no altar girls… I've never met a young girl who has said, 'I found my vocation altar serving.' Maybe it's happened."
Fr. Lankeit addressed the issue of women's vocations to religious life and praised the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. Both communities have sisters in the Diocese of Phoenix.
"When women are faithful to the Church, when they live in conformity to the Church and they have a spirit of obedience just as a priest is called to, they have the tremendous admiration and respect of priests," Fr. Lankeit said. "I often turn to those same women, even though I'm able to offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, when I need prayers. Their way of life and the faithfulness with which they live challenges me to pursue holiness even more vigorously."
Fr. Lankeit said that the decision regarding altar servers at the cathedral is only one of many factors in encouraging vocations.
"Don't get me wrong — this alone will not be the be-all and end-all of increasing vocations," Fr. Lankeit said. He'd also like to establish perpetual adoration at the cathedral.
"It's a high priority for me and I'm trying to discern how to make that happen here," he said.
Sarah Dieckman, a parishioner at Ss. Simon and Jude, said her 11-year-old son Jack loves being an altar server. She also has a daughter in fourth grade who was looking forward to becoming an altar server next year.
Dieckman did not offer an opinion either way on the policy change at the cathedral, saying she wanted to find out the reasons behind the decision.
"It's a big change and I want to understand where it's coming from," Dieckman said. "I would want to know more about the reasons for the change before having an opinion about it."
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