Controversy surrounding service of altar girls at Mass
Controversy reflects tension surrounding role of women in the church
A controversial subject rises again at the Arlington Diocese.
In 2006, the leader of the Diocese of Arlington announced that altar girls would be permitted at Roman Catholic churches in northern Virginia, but the decision would left up to individual priests.
At that time, Arlington and a diocese in Lincoln, Nebraska were the only two, out of nearly 200 in the United States that did not allow women and girls to serve at the altar, or to assist priests at Mass.
A vigil was held today at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, in northern Vir., to protest the church’s decision last year to switch back and no longer permit girls to be altar servers.
In 1994, the Vatican granted bishops the authority to permit altar girls to serve at Mass, according to the Associated Press. Later that year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops decided to allows girls to serve. According to the AP, nearly all dioceses permitted altar girls.
One reason offered by bishops who resisted the decision was that the service should be preserved for boys who wished to follow the path to priests.
The Rev. Michael Taylor, Corpus Christi’s pastor, shares that belief, according to the Washington Post.
The paper reported that about a dozen families left the 1,100 church after the decision was made, and that the subject reflects “ongoing tensions among American Catholics over the role of women.”
A majority of churches, 60 percent, across northern and eastern Virginia still allow only altar boys, reported the Washington Post.
Girls who had already trained to serve at Mass, at Corpus Christi, have been permitted to continue, but they are not allowed to wear the same new robes that were given to boys.
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