Where have all the altar boys gone?
At the weekend Mass my wife and I regularly attend we have not seen an altar boy for many months now. The altar servers are all young girls. Are we experiencing an anomaly or is this the norm at most Masses in most parishes now?
If this is not an anomaly, it is a practice about which all Catholics should be concerned.
Acolytes
Historically altar servers at Mass were acolytes – boys or young men preparing for the priesthood. The position of acolyte is “the fourth and highest minor order in the Latin Church, ranking next to a subdeacon.”
The position of “altar server” is a fill-in position the Church created in case there were no acolytes available to serve at mass. But there was never an official decree issued as to who could be an altar server. It did, however, make sense that only boys served as altar servers when there were no acolytes available.
A New Practice
Following Vatican II some progressive/liberal clerics opened the position of altar server to include girls. The practice slowly spread to other parishes.
The Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship initially addressed this practice in the apostolic letter Inaestimabile Donum, issued in 1980. It stated, “18. There are, of course, various roles that women can perform in the liturgical assembly: these include reading the Word of God and proclaiming the intentions of the Prayer of the Faithful. Women are not, however, permitted to act as altar servers.”
Undeterred, progressive clerics and liberal parishes continued the practice. The Vatican had spoken, and progressive were ignoring the Vatican.
An Oops?
After the Code of Canon Law was revised in 1983, the question of whether girls could be altar servers was raised again. Because of the wording of Canon 230 it appeared that girls could indeed be altar servers.
As the old adage states, the devil is in the details. Whether Canon 230 was deliberately or mistakenly crafted to appear to allow altar girls is irrelevant. It happened.
So, the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship addressed the practice a second time. This time it had to do an about face. The Congregation’s letter on March 15, 1994, to the presidents of episcopal conferences, clarifying Canon 230, essentially said that bishops may allow female altar servers, lectors, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.
But the letter also stated, “At the same time, however, the Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue.”
So, while girls can be altar servers at Mass, parishes should be supporting the idea of altar boys.
Our Parish
I’m not one to make assumptions, but it does appear this is not the case in the parish of which I am a member. It appears, based on the wording of the annual (and sometimes semi-annual) notices in the parish bulletin that offer altar server training, that the Liturgy Director at our parish (a woman) prefers altar girls over altar boys.
The most recent notice is par for the course. It states the training is “Open to girls and boys, grades 3-12.” The fact that it says it is open to girls (first) and boys (second) is concerning. There is clearly no preference here for boys.
In the catechism class my wife and I teach, I try to recruit altar boys by telling the class about when I was an altar boy. (My experience was similar to that of Larry Peterson’s, as he related in his article “We Learned Latin and Were Known as “Altar Boys.”) My success rate, however, is rather dismal. Even the monetary inducement for serving at weddings doesn’t seem to have much of an effect.
It’s Not Chauvinism
Now before you start throwing charges of chauvinism at me, consider where I’m coming from here.
When I was growing up, boys in third through seventh or eighth grade (prime altar boy age) preferred to hang out with boys their own age. It was not that we disliked girls. It was just that boys liked boy stuff and girls liked . . . well, we were not sure what they liked. But we did know that boys and girls were different.
Truth be known, us boys were sometimes afraid of girls because they seemed smarter and more-quick witted than us. So, boys hung around with boys. It was ‘safer’ that way. (John Gray explained all the differences in his 1992 best seller, “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.”)
I doubt very much if things are all that different today. And while there are always exceptions to a rule, such exceptions do not negate the rule.
Due largely to the women’s lib movement, however, we now must accept that there is zero difference between men and women, boys and girls. The ‘genders’ are equal in every respect. However, if we are being honest, this is not true in all respects.
And we are now also being told that gender is interchangeable. Females can become males and males can become females. But this is utter nonsense. A woman cannot be a man any more than a man can be a woman. This is a biological (science) fact. Women cannot become fathers and men cannot become mothers. Their physical ‘plumbing’ makes this impossible. ‘Nuff said.
Girl Altar Servers
None of this, of course, has anything to do with whether or not girls should be allowed to be altar servers. There is no doctrine that says girls cannot be altar servers. And for the past 40 years or so, the practice of allowing girl altar servers has become a very common one.
But the clerics who allowed this practice to become so widespread have done the Church a disservice. While their hearts may have been in the right place, they unintentionally (at least I hope it was unintentional) helped foster the notion that if girls can be altar servers, they can grow up and become deacons and priests. And, unfortunately, once in a while at least, girls do latch on to this idea.
Pope St. John Paul II clearly stated that the priesthood is a male charism only. In his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, he wrote, “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” And since deacons are ordained (the first step toward the priesthood), this means that women cannot become deacons either.
Practice vs. Doctrine
Allowing girls as altar servers is merely a practice. But allowing only males to be deacons and priests is a doctrine that is a second level truth. It is a truth that is “to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” And God’s truth is eternal.
Put simply, changing or overturning this doctrine would mean that the Church has erred in a matter of the Faith. But this cannot happen because the Holy Spirit protects the Church from errors regarding the Faith.
Because, however, it is a second level truth rather than divinely revealed dogma, some Catholic dissidents say the teaching can and should be changed. While such talk is not heresy (not accepting a second level truth makes one a dissident, not a heretic) it is clearly not guided by the Holy Spirit.
The Downsides
Parishes who allow girl altar servers need to understand that there has been a two-fold downside to this practice. Firstly, it fosters the mistaken notion that females can become clerics. Secondly, by allowing altar girls they may actually be pushing boys away from being altar servers, and possibly even the priesthood.
Both of these notions are troubling, but the second is more so. This is because serving as an altar boy is influential in males discerning a call to the vocation of the priesthood.
“The Class of 2023: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood” shows the truth of this statement. Almost three quarters of priests served as altar boys.
As stated on page 40 of the survey, “Ordinands who served as an altar server constituted 72% of all respondents. They represented 72% of ordinands in religious institutes and 71% of ordinands to diocesan priesthood. Between 2006 and 2023, their share averaged 73% and ranged between 67% and 80%.”
Between 1970 and 2022, priestly ordinations in the US fell from 805 per year to 451 per year. And right now, in the US, there are over 3,200 parishes without a resident priest pastor. These are certainly not happy stats. Allowing girls to be altar servers is not going to help change these stats.
Allowing girls to be altar servers is a practice that must end. It may only continue help foster the mistaken notion that women can become deacons and priests. And it may continue to help suppress the number of priestly ordinations. The devil is probably liking both of these outcomes.
24 thoughts on “Altar Girls, Altar Boys, Deacons, and Priests”
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Thankyou for your article. The presence of altar girls is causing division. I agree that the devil is very happy with the situation.
I agree completely. We have allowed this situation to get worse and worse over the past 50 years—and we’re paying the price for it.
Allow me to make one correction in the opening line. It states, “At the weekend Mass my wife and I regularly attend…” There is no obligation to attend Mass on the weekend. There is an obligation to attend Mass on the Lord’s Day which is Sunday and so it should read, “when my wife and I attend Sunday Mass…” Most Catholics I know realize that when they attend the Vigil Mass it fulfills the Sunday obligation.
A few years ago, when a fellow Catholic was lamenting the rise of transgenderism, I said “well the Catholic Church has led the way in dressing girls up as boys.” This is one of the many horrible mistakes of Pope John Paul II. I’m sure I won’t live long enough to see this error corrected.
Robert, feel free to offer corrections but know, too, that the statement I made is correct as stated. Sunday does begin a new week, but a Saturday evening Vigil Mass, a 6 am Sunday morning Mass, a Noon or 1:00 pm Sunday Mass, and even a 5 or 6 pm Sunday evening Mass are all held on the what has long been considered “the weekend.” As such they can all correctly be called weekend Masses and they all fulfill one‘s Sunday obligation.
[Jesus] said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Is this prayer intention offered at every mass?
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The weekly “in all humility, we Trads are so much better than everyone else” and finger pointing article. All so very Christian.
Faithful, I am not a fan of the Traditional Mass. I n fact I have written two article that explain why much of what its adherents say is patently, provably false. I place the blame for these false teachings directly at the feet of those who should no better, i.e., their shepherds. But I accept that everyone has the right to choose which form they wish to attend.
I disagree with Gene in where he assigns the blame for the priest shortage. The blame should be placed with those who have fallen prey to Satan’s 100-120 year plan to destroy the Church. This plan was put into effect long before Vatican II was even a twinkle in the Church’s eye. Altar server policies are a symptom. Not the cause.
Gene, you are spot on. I, like Mr. Leininger, am an Instituted Acolyte. Over the last six or seven years that I’ve been blessed to serve in that role, and manage the altar servers at our Sunday Masses, I’ve observed what you recounted from your younger days. The girls do a little better job than the boys and this intimidates the guys, the boys aren’t crazy about serving with the girls, and we don’t get as many boys serving as we should.
Although, as Independent points out, perhaps serving at the altar may generate vocations as religious sisters for some girls, nuns can’t confect the Eucharist. That’s why we need the boys serving and hopefully being called, and responding to the call, to the priesthood.
Finally, a well-known, faithful priest whose name is familiar to orthodox Catholics that listen to/watch Catholic TV and Radio, tells of how when he was taking classes in seminary back in the day, decades ago, a woman in one of the classes (in favor of getting girls to serve at the altar) explained that the push for this was to get the door opened, hopefully, for the future ordination of women to clerical office. And…look where we are now.
I have been an instituted Acolyte for the last twelve years. Post-Ministeria Quaedam, referring to an Altar Server as an Acolyte is an error. I will explain why below.
Much confusion surrounds the Acolyte ministry within the United States. The term Acolyte is often used interchangeably to describe the ministry of Altar Server and the post-1972 Acolyte/Subdeacon ministry. Before 1972, an Acolyte was the highest ministry of the Minor Orders of the Church.
In 1972, Paul VI issued an Apostolic Letter titled Ministeria Quaedam. In this Letter, three significant changes were made involving the Church’s Major and Minor Orders. First, he removed the classification of Minor Orders and replaced it with two stable/concrete ministries, specifically Acolyte and Lector. Second, he removed the office of Subdeacon and merged all but one of its duties into the newly defined office of Acolyte. Third, he opened the Ministry of Acolyte to lay persons, eliminating the requirement for entrance into the clerical state. As a result, the Acolyte is permanently/concretely instituted (but not ordained).
Rite Prior to 1972: Acolytes were ordained by the bishop (Acolytes and Subdeacons were “ordained” sacramentally — but not via the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Why is this distinction important? In Holy Orders, an indelible mark is eternally produced on the candidate’s soul. During this rite, the bishop presents the candidate for Acolyte with an extinguished candle and an empty cruet while pronouncing words expressive of these duties. In contrast, Altar servers were never installed — by the bishop or anyone else. Instead, they were deputed by the local priest for a specific period of time.
Rite After 1972: Since Ministeria Quaedam, the institution of the Acolyte can only be conferred by the bishop through the liturgical rite, De institutione acolythi. This liturgical rite reflects the Pope’s redefinition of the Acolyte ministry.
Since 1972, the rite consists of the bishop presenting the candidate for Acolyte with an empty paten and chalice while pronouncing words expressive of these newly acquired duties. Notice that these were the exact same items presented to the candidate for Subdeacon in the rite for the “ordination” of the Subdeacon.
We know that the Barque of St Peter will never sink but for all the rearranging of deck chairs since 1972, its legacy at present is a lot of water splashing over the gunwales.
I think it should only be altar boys too BUT now that this is entrenched in the use of girls I will bring up one possible positive based on our own parish—a couple of the altar girls who had served for years during their early school grades through high school have now become religious sisters who are also hurting for ‘recruits’ if you will.
So, there is some good that can be had from allowing girls to serve as altar servers IF it motivates a calling to religious life which doesn’t have to just be priest and deacon…NUNS are needed too and if serving helps their calling that’s good. BUT the church, at large, needs to clarify this to both boys and girls so that we aren’t dragged into this nonsense gender garbage all the time.
This is what can happen when women are allowed to Preach.
“Woke Wyoming Pastor Compares Kids Going to Pervert Pride Parades to Going to Heaven”
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I am a brand new Catholic, so, there is much I cannot comment about due to lack of knowledge. I will say, our parish will take whichever warm bodies are available to serve and very often it is adults. Occasionally, I can get my son to serve if he needs the volunteer hours for school or those times he decides it’s better than “just sitting there”. I have attended one Latin Mass and all I can say is WOW! It’s was a beautiful experience. I would happily attend regularly, but, I’d be going by myself.
All that being said, I love my parish family and couldn’t imagine worshipping without them.
There is an error in the 4th paragraph from the end which states that nearly 3/4 of altar servers become priests. The next paragraph clarifies that statement saying that “Ordinands who served as an altar server constituted 72% of all respondents.. . . Between 2006 and 2023, their share averaged 73% and ranged between 67% and 80%.” The erroneous paragraph should read “nearly 3/4 of newly ordained priests had been altar servers.
Thanks, Margaret. The required correction has been made.
Call me an enabler, but I prefer altar boys at a service for all of the reasons Mr. Van Son stated above AND I prefer men to do the readings and intentions. Men have naturally deeper voices that better convey sound and give greater authority to what is being said.
Did you mean “Almost three quarters of altar boys become priests.” Or that of the ordinands, 72% of them, were altar boys? I’d like to see an interview of the 28% that weren’t altar boys and read about reasons why they weren’t. Were there too many girls already doing it? Perhaps, or they were converts and didn’t grow up in a Catholic church.
I was an altar boy for the first time on 12/26/69 (just shy of turning 11) & part of the first group that did not learn a single word of Latin.
For weekday Masses, we altar boys used to argue as to who would hold the paten, as the priest distributed Holy Communion. While our theology may not have been sophisticated, we sensed that it was a tremendous honor to protect the Holy Eucharist. How sad that so many parishes have abandoned patens.
While there may have been silly shenanigans among the altar boys of my time, there was also an unspoken camaraderie. On a lighter note, we convinced ourselves that there was an intact body inside the main altar of our parish that could be glimpsed via a small hole. I recall a transitional deacon playing along with this adventure. Looking back, I think of the movie “Stand By Me” in those boys’ search for a dead body. It was a “guy thing.”
Of course, none of what I just said constitutes a sound argument for limiting altar service to boys.
Yet, it is interesting that so many boys no longer seem to find it attractive.
Looking back, it was my all time favorite extracurricular activity.
Bravo!
As a woman who attends Latin Mass, it is refreshing to see so many boys and young men in these clearly servant and reverent roles at Mass. it’s not surprising that we have a much higher percentage of young men going to the seminary than any other parish.
Boys need to have their space and this is one intended for them.
Most of the females in my life are from Mars.
This explains a lot, Crisis.
Being surrounded by strong women, I did not end up like you and Gene, who feel that men leading and women following is the natural order of things.