Editorializing from yours truly

Normally, I don't bother to write letters to The Observer, our campus daily, but last Friday I ran across a letter on a topic that's long been of interest to me, so I decided to respond. Also, it's midterms week, so I'll do anything to avoid working on assigned papers, including writing voluntary papers. As my devoted readers, I'm sharing the director's cut with you. (I had to do a hatchet job on it to get it down to the 350-word limit).

No More Altar Girls? (thier title, not mine)
by Emily Klejeski

I was sorry to see the frustration expressed in Anna Nussbaum's Oct. 10 Viewpoint letter. While the gender of altar servers is a matter of discipline rather than absolute truth, and thus is open to legitimate debate, I feel compelled to offer some reasons the Church might decide to disallow female altar servers (which, I should add, they haven't yet).

The fact is, boys and girls are different. Girls are natural volunteers; they jump in and help wherever needed. It's hard to find an area of parish ministry that isn't mostly performed by women anymore, and more power to them. The unfortunate fallout is that religion is often viewed as women's domain. All too common is the Mass where the priest is the only prominent male, looking rather cowed by the overwhelming female presence. Hardly the image of an alter Christus in whose footsteps boys may want to follow.

Having only altar boys provides boys a way to serve that is appealing to them. In parishes where girls are allowed serve, they more often than not overtake that ministry, while the boys drop out of what becomes yet another girls' club. Giving the boys a chance to be boys in the context of religion is an opportunity for them to experience a Catholicism that they can really sink their teeth into and to develop a knowledge and reverence of the Mass. It is an opportunity for them to learn from the priest and the other boys about a faith of heroic sacrifice, a faith worth living and dying for, and yes, a faith even worth getting up earlier on Sunday for.

Historically, altar serving has been a stepping stone in training for the priesthood, and the Church would like to return to that tradition. The results of this were shown by the Arlington, Va. diocese, which has only male altar servers, and now ranks among the top two U.S. dioceses for priestly vocations. 85% of these priests were once altar servers. So much for a vocations crisis there.

Finally, I'd like to address a misconception that pertains not only to this question, but also the question of women being priests, a concern which seems to lie just beneath the surface of Miss Nussbaum's letter. Our culture has misconstrued the concept of gender equality to consist of performing the same tasks. This reflects a demeaning, utilitarian view of the human person, by reducing a person's value to what jobs they are able to perform. Rather, we should understand that while men and women are intrinsically different, and thus have different means of serving Christ and his Church, the Church has always proclaimed their equal dignity. Remember that we uphold a woman as the highest created being (just look on top of the Dome).