Letter from the Pastor: Altar Servers at St. Mary's

Letter from the Pastor: Altar Servers at St. Mary's

Dear Parishioners,

As you may be aware, this past week Bishop Loverde presented his decision to no longer require the exclusive use of male altar servers in the parishes of the Diocese of Arlington. He has made it the responsibility of pastors to decide what is best. As your pastor I have given this important matter much thought and have asked the Holy Spirit for guidance. Therefore, I wish to explain to you why maintaining our current practice is the right thing to do.

First, I think it would be unfair, and even disrespectful, to the girls who would be asked to serve because that would give them an expectation that would potentially confuse their understanding of the faith. The altar server functions entirely in support of the priest and is, therefore, most closely identified with him. All others who serve at Mass, such as cantors, lectors, ushers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, are directed toward service to the people. The connection to the priest and what he does at the altar breeds a natural attraction to the priestly role. Yet the Church has always clearly taught and has recently affirmed in absolute terms that Christ intended priestly ordination only for men. For with Christ, as priests consecrate His Body and Blood, they give themselves as Bridegrooms to their Bride, the Church. Any young person directly assisting a priest at Mass is implicitly but surely invited to identify with the priest and so encouraged to aspire to a necessarily masculine priesthood. I cannot in good conscience even take the chance of putting our daughters in a situation that leads to false hopes and unreasonable aspirations regarding the Ordained Priesthood. I must add that this is not a theoretical problem but an occurrence that I have encountered in my time as a priest.

For the same reasons as explained above, a strong fraternity of altar boys in close association with the priest is indispensable in inviting young men to meaningful consideration of a priestly vocation. If girls were allowed to serve, the connection of server and priest will necessarily diminish, and with it a chance for young men to hear and respond to God’s call.

Thus the connection of priest and altar boy has always been a vital part of the life of the Church. In 1994, while allowing girls to serve, the Vatican stated the following:

[T]he 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 also led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations.

John Paul II in 2004 accordingly encouraged priests to show a special concern for altar boys, saying that they “represent a kind of ‘garden’ of priestly vocations” and that their service at the altar can be “a valuable experience of Christian education and become a kind of pre-seminary” (Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2004).

This is not only true of the universal Church, but has been true of our parish since 1795. As a pastor I am aware that I stand on the shoulders of the priests who came before me, and I do not believe it my place to change such a venerable tradition. In addition our parish is known for its history and fidelity to Catholic tradition, which many people have cited as the reason for their love of St. Mary’s.

Further, in these days where there are reports on increased loss of opportunities for boys to be formed in male virtues, the tradition of altar boys provides a healthy masculine identity and formative fraternal activity. Our program here at St. Mary’s is thriving with well over 110 young men serving in the liturgies.

Over my six years with you I hope you have come to know that I very much love our parish and appreciate all of you. Four years ago Bishop Loverde gave the care of the parish to me. I trust that you realize when I make a decision as your spiritual father I try to do it for the good of the parish and the glory of God. I have endeavored here to explain, and hope you will prayerfully consider and understand, why we owe it to both our girls and our boys – and to the Church - to maintain an all male corps of altar servers.

Please be assured of my prayers for all of you, especially for our young, and I ask you to keep the other priests at St. Mary’s and me in yours.

Father Dennis Kleinmann