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Fr. Dwight Longenecker
I am often asked my opinion about girl altar servers–yea or nay?
Readers of my blog and of my book Letters on Liturgy and anyone who attends Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Greenville will know of my preference and opinion–and that is “nay” But why do we have all altar boys?
I am very aware that, in writing about the subject that I am tiptoeing through a minefield. “But the Vatican permits altar girls! Why not?” Then the sentimentalists chip in, “You’re being so mean to little girls!” Or the liturgical modernists: “It’s a lovely thing to welcome all God’s children to the table of fellowship!” or the pragmatists, “The girls can do just as good a job as the boys. Why exclude them when we need more kids to be altar servers?”
So here’s why I say “Nay” to girl altar servers. First there is the traditional argument that serving the altar is often a stepping stone to a priestly vocation and as the priesthood is closed to females, it is appropriate to reserve altar serving to boys. I’m not so convinced by this argument. Maybe. Maybe not. I think a vocation to the priesthood is more complicated.
However, I think there are more profound reasons for reserving the role of altar server to boys, and this leads to a conversation about the wider cultural context.
Continued below.
dwightlongenecker.com
I am often asked my opinion about girl altar servers–yea or nay?
Readers of my blog and of my book Letters on Liturgy and anyone who attends Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Greenville will know of my preference and opinion–and that is “nay” But why do we have all altar boys?
I am very aware that, in writing about the subject that I am tiptoeing through a minefield. “But the Vatican permits altar girls! Why not?” Then the sentimentalists chip in, “You’re being so mean to little girls!” Or the liturgical modernists: “It’s a lovely thing to welcome all God’s children to the table of fellowship!” or the pragmatists, “The girls can do just as good a job as the boys. Why exclude them when we need more kids to be altar servers?”
So here’s why I say “Nay” to girl altar servers. First there is the traditional argument that serving the altar is often a stepping stone to a priestly vocation and as the priesthood is closed to females, it is appropriate to reserve altar serving to boys. I’m not so convinced by this argument. Maybe. Maybe not. I think a vocation to the priesthood is more complicated.
However, I think there are more profound reasons for reserving the role of altar server to boys, and this leads to a conversation about the wider cultural context.
Continued below.
Altar Girls? Yea or Nay? | Fr. Dwight Longenecker
I am often asked my opinion about girl altar servers--yea or nay? Readers of my blog and of my book Letters on Liturgy and anyone who attends Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Greenville will know of my preference and opinion--and that is "nay" But why do we have all altar boys? I am very aware...
dwightlongenecker.com
