“What can girls do for God?”
I wouldn’t want anyone to miss what commenter (and deacon) Eric Stoltz posted in the thread below about altar girls. He scanned a few pages from a 1940s Catholic grade-school reader that are, as he says on his blog, “quaint, cute, humorous and horrifying, all at the same time.” I bet they’ll bring back some memories for a few of you.
It got me thinking about the role that images play in the ongoing struggle over the proper role of women in liturgy. Jim Pauwels (also a deacon, as it happens) responded to Eric’s find by noting, “Those stylized, idealized pictures of the four altar *boys* leading the priest to the altar are exactly what traditionalists want their ecclesial world to be. One image is more powerful than words. Think of what a procession looks like now. In our parish, a typical Sunday procession would be a girl, enrobed in an alb, carrying a crucifix on a pole, followed by two smaller boys, also alb-clad, bearing torches, followed by a lay adult and a lay teen who are the lectors, followed by a deacon, followed by a priest. There is something very refreshing and hope-filled when I compare what happens today to that picture from yesteryear.”
When I was working on my article, and when we were thinking about how to illustrate it, I discovered what happens when you do an image search online for “altar girls.” You turn up images like the one Jim describes — smiling girls, dressed to serve on the altar — but they’re generally hosted on traditionalist sites, as examples of how debased the Church has become. Sometimes they have a big red “NO!” imposed on the faces of the girls. Then I tried searching for “altar boys” and turned up many of the same hits — images like the one in Eric’s book, held up as an example of the Good Old Days when all was right with the Church, juxtaposed with the decadent image of little girls in albs. I was really beginning to worry about the Church…until I tried searching for “altar servers.” That’s when all the ordinary parish Web sites started popping up. It confirmed my original impression that most Catholics have long since moved on from worrying about the sex of the children who serve in their parishes. It’s only on the fringes that people can still work themselves up into an angry froth over a picture of a smiling little girl carrying a cross to the altar. I suppose that’s a lesson in the dangers of putting too much faith (so to speak) in what you find online as representative of the larger culture. Sometimes getting the big picture is a matter of using the right search terms — and sometimes it’s a matter of getting offline altogether.
There are, alas, no pictures of me in action as an altar server (that I know of) — and even if there were I’m sure they wouldn’t compare with the pictures that illustrated Peggy’s essay. So to accompany my article, we ended up using an image of a group of altar servers robed for Mass and holding the tools of the trade, but shot only from the neck down, so you can’t tell whether they’re boys or girls. It encourages me to think that for most Catholics, it doesn’t matter.
Somehow I’m not horrified.
I’m about as liturgically involved as anyone could be who is not ordained. I’m a volunteer EM and a lector, a published hymn writer, and in my day job I’m a music director. But none of these liturgical activities is anywhere near as important as actually going to Mass. Take all of them away from me and I’ve still got the only really valuable thing, the source and summit of the Christian life.
Just to be clear. The priest observing that going to Mass is an important thing for Catholics to do: not troubling. The priest observing that going to Mass is an important thing for Catholics to do as an answer to the question of why girls should have fewer privileges than boys: troubling.
It’s good to reflect how far we’ve come.
Kathy, fwiw, I’d think that a couple of generations ago, you wouldn’t have had a title like Director of Music. You could have played the organ, and a man would have been conducting you.
Today, I’d bet that the National Association of Pastoral Musicians is 2/3 women.
Mollie – agree with your overall conclusions about girl altar servers. Unfortunately, there are many of us in parishes and even dioceses that are on your defined “fringe”……it is difficult to support your daughters and/or wives when you live in a rural area or a small diocese and the pastor/bishop enforces his will across the board and his explanations have about as much foundation as the copied pages from Deacon Stolz’s book from the 1950′s.
To be honest, beyond this specific example (girl altar servers), you point to a number of underlying issues that continue to polarize the church and go well beyond just liturgical decisions. The fact is – how we celebrate liturgy reveals what we believe about the church/sacraments. There is undeniably a movement going on in the curia, if not some conferences of bishops, that are re-interpreting the documents of Vatican II and thus changing the ecclesiology of the church. This issue of girl altar servers is an opening to the much larger discussion about ministry, ordained ministry, servant leadership, the role of women, etc.
In some ways Paul VI and subsequent documents, in an effort to straddle the minority/majority differences, allowed just enough room for principles, rubrics, etc. to be interpreted almost any way you want especially if you are pulling quotes from documents without any type of context, history, etc.
Wait until the new Roman Missal is implemented. It will make the question of girl altar servers look like small potatoes but will quickly surface ecclesilogy, authority, magesterium, tradition, etc.
“In some ways Paul VI and subsequent documents, in an effort to straddle the minority/majority differences, allowed just enough room for principles, rubrics, etc. to be interpreted almost any way you want ”
True – obvously these things are not interpreted uniformly. Yet, in a series of decisions during that time period, women were granted access to liturgical ministries that previously were closed to them. They serve at the altar now. And proclaim the readings. And sing the psalm. And distribute communion.
Suppose those requests were coming to Rome for the first time today. What would the answers be?
In retrospect, that was a remarkable series of permissions.
The next domino to fall, I’d think, would be to permit women to be instituted as permanent lectors and acolytes. Those are no longer clerical degrees. There is no theological reason that women should be excluded from them.
Hey, what ever happened to the recommendation from last year’s Synod that women be admitted as “lectors” (the office and not just the role)? We discussed it here last October, but I don’t know whether there’s been any movement. I guess not?
Holy smokes, Mollie, I completely forgot about that! And I contributed a couple of comments to that thread, too. :-). I wonder how I’ll react when I learn that President Obama is speaking at Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony? :-)
FWIW, I haven’t heard of any women being instituted as lectors. But I haven’t heard of any men, either (except the ones who are in clerical formation).
I found the pages Eric scanned to be cute and nostalgic.
Frankly, I do not see all of the dramatic divisions you reference. At least in our parish (in central California), our three priests go about their business as usual; one of them having recently been designated by the bishop as parish administrator. I have not noticed any big grumbling from the congregation and basically – in both English and Español – life goes on; la vida continua.
Regarding the new translation of the Roman Missal, I do not know when it will be implemented; maybe it is still awaiting approval from Rome. In any case, here is the link:
http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/examples.shtml
Hi, Ken, I didn’t understand your comment – does your parish not have girls serving at the altar? And/or, did they discontinue the practice?
Hi Jim – Yes, we do have altar girls and altar boys.
Maybe you were thinking of my reply to your question on the “15 Years Confusion” thread. You were wondering if this is a USA thing only, or if it also is perhaps an issue in the Philippines or Latin America as well.
My comment was that I noticed in the few parishes I had attended mass in Chile, that the altar servers were all boys.
In our town in North-Central California, we have altar boys and altar girls. Back in the 1990′s when altar girls were introduced, I lived in the Midwest and in our diocese anyway, they were introduced without much controversy – one way or the other.
To be honest, while this is interesting discussion, I don’t see it as a very important issue.
Truthfully, if I were a priest – which I am not – since the option of having girl altar servers or not was definitely placed in the purview of the priest, I would not have bothered with using girl mass servers; I would have stuck with the altar boys. I would have taken this opinion because I do not think it correct to give girls the idea that they can ever become priests. That is my opinon and if I was a priest, that would be the rule the parish to which I had been assigned.
However the Pope has said girl altar servers are allowed, if a lcoal priest wants to allow girls to serve mass, that is his call, and it is certainly good enough for me.
Mollie: I particularly agree with your point that it is dangerous to take what one finds on the Internet as representative of the real world. It’s a minority that is raising objections to girls serving on the altar. But I find that even on this blog, minority-positions are easily blown up to almost apocalyptic size and force.
Yes, reading anonymous comments on the internet, on just about any topic and particularly on Catholic issues, is enough to make one despair of humanity!
I used to have a similar volume about the ideal Catholic wife, which was distributed among Catholic Action groups and had a glowing prefatory commendation from Fr. Jack Egan, which I’m sure he lived to regret. I’ll see if I can find it in the chaos of my move.
Jim, actually I can’t play the organ, so I probably would have no other option than “just” participating in the Mass.
I think the spiritually safest attitude is, Ask not what you can do for the Liturgy; ask what the Liturgy can do for you.
Although I am grateful to be involved, and I realize that there is a deepening of commitment that comes with service, my service to God doesn’t come close to comparing to God’s service to me. We offer bread and wine, He offers Himself. We offer what amounts to very feeble praise, He gives Himself.
In the Prologue of the Gospel of John the proper human response to Jesus is simply to receive Him. “To those who did receive him, he gave them power to become children of God.” I think this attitude of receptivity has been largely denigrated since the Council in favor of a more activist approach. I’m not sure that folks appreciate fully that something valuable has been lost.
Ken sez: “I would have taken this opinion because I do not think it correct to give girls the idea that they can ever become priests.”
Jim sez: One thing I have learned about Catholicism: never say never. This old gal has change her mind more than we will ever care to admit. It’s usually preceded by this: “As the Church has always taught …..”
Who would have thought in 1961 that we would be chomping on Big Macs on Fridays without a second thought. Meatless Fridays were one of the defining practices of Catholics, and then —-
The Lord does move in mysterious ways.
With all the talk about girl alter servers I was reminded of an event I had read about that occurred in 1802 in Detroit. I found this to be interesting and wondered if anyone knew if girl alter servers were prevalent in French speaking frontier parishes in the 18th century, since the book suggested similar ‘reforms’ were needed at other parishes at the time.
“In 1791 Bishop Carroll had presided over a synod which adopted certain canonical forms for the American church to follow. Remote parishes such as Detroit, were slow in accepting them. One of the practices to which [Fr.] Richard put a stop to was that of having young girls offer oblations and otherwise assist at services. He forced a showdown relative to this practice by forbidding one girl to participate at a Christmas service because she was, as he explained, indecently dressed. This caused quite an uproar among parishioners. Several told him he had done the right thing; but the girl’s relatives were affronted and objected strenuously. In order to avoid a recurrence of this situation, Richard informed the trustees that thereafter the custom as it prevailed throughout the United States would be followed; only men or boys would be allowed to serve. The trustees demurred at this edict…” Frank Woodford. Gabriel Richard. Detroit: Wayne State University Press (1958) p.44
Garrett,
Thanks for that fascinating snippet. I’m reminded that Bishop Carroll, who was elected, also petitioned Rome for permission to have the Mass celebrated in the vernacular in the United States. Of course the request was denied, but it only took 200 years for Bishop Carroll’s wish to come true. So it appears that from our earliest days, American Catholics have been an annoyance to the Curia.
One of the arguments that has been thrown at me for not permitting girls to serve at the altar is that the boys will stop showing up if girls get to serve.
Sounds pretty whiny to me.
” I suppose that’s a lesson in the dangers of putting too much faith (so to speak) in what you find online as representative of the larger culture.”
How true this is cannot be stressed enough. Although the newspapers were replete with criticisms of Bill Clinton the polls showed him with record setting popularity. It is just that the loudmouths were, well, just louder. Same with the church. Only a small segment of the church is for the “Reform of the Reform.” That segment is louder. Beginning with a million dollar funded EWTN, the Domino Pizza king throwing his money in every right wing cause, the Ethics and Public Policy Center employing pros to hype up the negativity. And, of course, Chaput and Co with the one issue religion. Etc.
The truth is women are more and more getting a place at the altar. The news just has not gotten out yet. At least to certain bishops, et alii.
It’s a minority that is raising objections to girls serving on the altar. But I find that even on this blog, minority-positions are easily blown up to almost apocalyptic size and force.
For the record, what bothers me in this case is not so much the existence of the misogynistic minority, but the failure of the Vatican to provide leadership in the opposite direction. What would it cost Rome to say, not “We can’t find any reason to withhold permission for girls to serve the priest,” but instead, “We are happy to open this ministry to both women and men, and encourage priests to embrace this opportunity for greater lay participation in the liturgy”? This is a case where the Vatican is bending over backward to keep the fringe comfortable.
While most of the posts here seem to focus on liturgy, I continue to feel the issue is more about girls, that is, women.
Mollie is right of course that the lack of leadeship on this issue is the problem.
I think it’s part of the larger problem of maintaining male authority without really seeming to budge. Liturgical practice (all the way up to women in orders) is a means to this end.
A companion piece to Mollie’s by Cathleen Sprow Cummings in the current issue tries to lay aside the notion that women having souls was discussed in the 6th century Council of Macon and, while we’ve made avances, there are still tensions with contemporaryy feminism.
The article, I thought, skipped over lots of history and the denigration of women in the Church, say Innocent VIII in the 15th century.
So even if altar girls become widespread, I’m not sure how far we’ve come, until not onl;y the gifts of girls but women are fully recognized. (Of course we have “visitatoionms” of our sisters instead.)
That doesn’t sit well with the male authority that wants to maintain its grip even now by clearly seperating the gifts of laity and clergy.
A further question for another time that really needs to be explored is the progress in gender/sexuality we’ve made as a Church and how far the Theology of the Body is from being the last word -despite its admission that not all sex is dirty.
Goodness. Are there still Catholic “girls” who, once they reach the age of puberty and understanding of BS when they hear it, still attending a Catholic church?
I wonder why.
“Jim sez: One thing I have learned about Catholicism: never say never. This old gal has change her mind more than we will ever care to admit. It’s usually preceded by this: “As the Church has always taught …..”
Who would have thought in 1961 that we would be chomping on Big Macs on Fridays without a second thought. Meatless Fridays were one of the defining practices of Catholics, and then —-
The Lord does move in mysterious ways.”
———————
Rather than spending my life waiting with baited breath for the Catholic Church to change, I take consolation that in matters of faith and morals i.e., in matters of import, fact she does not change.
Things like the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, or Papal Infallibility are not really new things, but instead, they actually reflect a deeper understanding of the truth.
Things like girl altar servers or other practical details are not doctrinal and consequently simply not as important as the doctrine of Transubstantiation.
And now doctors are telling us that in fact it is a good idea to have one meatless day each week. Where have I heard that before?
And so Jim, enjoy the Friday hamburger. I actually do like fish, and we try to have it at least one day a week.
I try not to sweat the details.
:)
Ah, yes, Papal Infallibility — a deeper understanding of The Truth.
And the loss of the Papal states and diminution of the secular power of the papacy had nothing to do with that definition of “the truth.”
Yep. Sure.
Sweating the details is what we’re here for. Participation is not compulsory — but let’s stick to altar servers, please.
Sorry, Mollie – been traveling. Thanks for your last post….as I said, agree with your summation but guess this issue strikes you depending upon where you live. If you have a wife, daughters, nieces, cousins who are active in the church and have had negative experiences in terms of discouragement; outright insults; initiatives that have been negated by pastoral fiat, etc. then your ox is being gored and this is not just a “detail”.
Unlike Fr. K and others, guess I took your post as just one door to a much larger issue and I see that as a glass half empty rather than the historical views best summed up by Jim as a glass half full.
Guess it is just your perspective and the world you live in.
I would be most interested in a study to see the impact of altar girls on vocations to the priesthood. Are parishes that practice that innovation still sending men to seminaries? At what rates? And likewise for parishes that have stuck with the traditional practice? Are they producing more vocations, or fewer?
By their fruits shall ye know them.
It would be interesting to see statistics, if it were possible to gather them. The case against female altar servers in its various forms usually includes an assertion that they contribute to a decline in vocations, but the “evidence” is always anecdotal. And, of course, the question of “fruits” is more complicated than simply numbers of seminarians. There’s no way to measure what kind of priests a given parish turns out… And no way to measure the impact that not allowing girls to serve has on those girls when they become women (and mothers of sons). Then, too, I’m not comfortable measuring the good of a parish by the number of young men it sends on to seminaries. There are lots of other ways a parish needs to serve its members in order to be healthy and fruitful, and the ministry of altar servers isn’t only about priest-production.
I think Bill de Haas is right that how significant the question looks to you may depend on how you’ve been affected by it. Men who grew up with the boys-only system and enjoyed it, or at least didn’t feel particularly harmed by it, may regard the whole question of who gets to be an altar server as just another little detail. (Fine, girls, we let you in, now can we move on?) But I keep hearing from women who look back and say, Yes, I was hurt by being excluded from this role as a child for what seemed to me to be no good reason. And those are just the women who stayed in the Church! What about the ones whose faith lapsed after childhood — what role did this early experience of exclusion play in that decision? How come, when I was in 7th grade, there were only two of us who were interested in signing up? I wonder what difference it might have made if my female classmates and I had been invited to be altar servers in third grade like the boys were. There’s no way to measure it. But I wonder.
I know I formed much of my adult faith during my teen years, serving at the altar. But it wasn’t just getting closer to the Eucharist and getting involved in the liturgy more intensely that made that impact. It was also knowing that I had that opportunity because the Church was finally moving forward to correct an inconsistency in what it taught and said about women. It’s not as though I picketed outside my parish until the change was made — I didn’t. I just wondered about it to myself, and asked questions nobody had good answers for (see Eric’s scans, above). And being let in gave me some hope.
Nowadays there may not be many parishes left that don’t allow altar girls — but whatever the statistics say, it’s a big deal to the people in those parishes. And, because of the way the Vatican leaves it up to the priest, it’s not just “holdouts” we have to consider. I just heard yesterday about a parish in my old diocese whose new pastor has reverted to the boys-only rule. I can’t help wondering what message that sends to a girl who was already serving in that parish and now has to desist. Even if I could point to statistics that show, indisputably, that keeping girls away from the sacristy increases vocations to the priesthood among men, I’m not sure it would make her feel better about the policy, or the Church’s view of women. I’m not sure it should.
Parish decision-maker: one male.
Parish workers: lots and lots of layfolk, the majority of whom are women.
Reason for the parish to exist: ditto.
Parish founders and funders: ditto.
What is wrong with this picture?
Rather (it might be easier for a quick answer this way), what is RIGHT with this picture?
It was also knowing that I had that opportunity because the Church was finally moving forward to correct an inconsistency in what it taught and said about women. . . . And being let in gave me some hope.
I’m afraid I don’t understand this: what “inconsistency” and what “hope” are you referring to?
Mollie – can’t wait to see your response to this. As we all know, truth about women has never changed in the church; it has always been consistent (like slavery, usury, death penalty, etc.). So, why would women (or men who care) need “hope”? Geez, JPII’s Theology of the Body gives you every thing you need to know or just reference the last document from either of the last two popes addressing ordination, priests, and the role of women…..consistent and truthful.
It’s awful for a girl to be told she can’t serve when she can do the job just as well as a boy. It makes a mockery of “Love God and love your neighbor” to have the boys hold so tightly to themselves the joy of serving God and His people in the Mass. Our Church shouldn’t be keeping people from doing service because of their gender.
I’ve heard that our Cardinal O’Connor lobbied the Vatican to allow girls to serve at the Altar. At his Masses he always publicly thanked the altar servers and encouraged them to serve as priests or sisters. I think the positive reinforcement they received was great. My daughters’ chance to serve told them they were a full member of the Church and helped keep them in the Church.
Why would anyone who professes to love God and their neighbor take something positive away from half the people in the Church? Do they serve the same God who wanted all his people to be prophets?
Nomilk: the church’s altar-server policy has been a tangle of inconsistencies; I laid out the main details in the article that started this whole discussion. We still don’t have our story totally straight, but we’ve made some progress. I think that’s a good reason for hope.