Girls at the Altar



First some personal background:

Back in my Episcopalian days, I was an acolyte. I began serving at the altar when I was third grade at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Dunsmuir, CA. The church building survives, but it's no longer an Episcopal Church -- I think it's Baptist. When we first moved to Mt. Shasta my father served the congregation as its licensed lay reader, leading the morning prayer services. But when I was in 3rd grade, we got a full time priest and despite my young age I became one of 2 acolytes. Greg Brooks, the other acolyte was a year older than me. When we moved to Klamath Falls the following year, we joined St. Paul's and I had to step back from the altar and do other duties, like carry a cross or flag, until I was confirmed 3 years later.

Back in the day, being an acolyte was an honor reserved for guys! Wow, a guys only thing -- girls sang in the Jr. Choir! Things changed a bit after that -- by the time my "little" brother became an acolyte.

Anyway, today in the LA Times there is an interesting article about girls serving at the altar in the Catholic Church, which until recently had been banned by papal decree. The article states:
In 1755, Pope Benedict XIV issued an encyclical that alluded to Pope Gelasius I, a 5th century pontiff: "Pope Gelasius in his ninth letter to the bishops of Lucania condemned the evil practice which had been introduced of women serving the priest at the celebration of Mass.

"Gelasius had written that "we have heard with impatience that disrespect for sacred things has come to this level that even women are tolerated to administer at the sacred altars."
This ban was reinforced in 1970 and 1980, before being lifted in 1994. But wow, to think, that having girls at the altar is a sacrilege. Of course, letting girls be at the altar raises hopes that they could move over into the center and celebrate the Eucharist. To many folk, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox, just don't want such a thing to happen. Got to keep the boys club going!
No, I think that these barriers are going to fall, sooner rather than later! So, why not make it now!

Comments

Mystical Seeker said…
Maybe someday the Catholic church will treat women as full citizens of their church and allow them to be priests. Nahhhhh.....
Robert Cornwall said…
There is always hope!

Consider that when I was an altar boy, women had yet to be allowed into the Episcopal priesthood. Allowing girls to serve at the altar will create pressure for change. This is, of course, a reason why traditionalits resist this step.

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