Bishop tells church: reinstate altar boys

National Catholic Reporter, March 15, 1996 by Arthur Jones

ARLINGTON, Va. -- A Virginia Catholic parish that stopped using any altar servers after the bishop banned the use of altar girls has been ordered to reinstate altar boys. The decision by Arlington Bishop John R. Keating, who heads one of only two U.S. dioceses where girls may not serve-the other is Lincoln, Neb. -- was greeted variously by silence, shock, tears and anger during weekend Masses March 2 and 3 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church here.

Keating's order was transmitted to the pastor Holy Ghost Fr. Jeff Duaime, in a recent meeting.

The parish advisory board in a meeting described as "long and contentious," weighed possible responses -- either comply with Keating's order to reinstate or offer alternatives. Duaime and associate pastor Holy Ghost Fr. Edward Kelly announced the advisory board's decision to yield.

Our Lady Queen of Peace, a parish founded by local African-American Catholics who felt unwelcome at area white churches is celebrating its golden anniversary this year.

Duaime said Keating regarded the parish's altar-server ban as using the Mass as a means of protest. Parishioners denied that was so. Board member Pam O'Connor said the issue was fairness, not protest.

O'Connor said her altar-server daughters, Mikaela, 12, and Justine, 10, had wept when they learned a year ago that Keating had ruled "no altar girls" in the diocese.

According to O'Connor, Justine said, "Mom it's not fair. If I can't serve, the boys shouldn't be able to, either." So she took that message to Kelly and Holy Ghost Fr. James Healy, who was pastor at the time.

"I said, ,Why don't you just do no servers?, that's how that evolved."

Subsequently, the "no servers" decision was endorsed by acclamation by parishioners. Then, last October, a situation arose that brought the issue to the forefront at the chancery: The bishop would be confirming at the parish.

The chancery advised the parish it had three options: The bishop could bring his own servers, he could go with none or the parish could provide men. The Queen of Peace advisory board decided on none. At the last minute, the bishop brought his own servers.

Following Keating's announcement that the parish must reinstate altar boys, parishioners interviewed by NCR were sympathetic to the pastor's position.

"He's under a lot of pressure from the bishop. I don't know what the alternative would be for him," said Jim Powell, whose daughters and granddaughters attend the church. "It doesn't change the way I feel about what we should do. I hope we can win in the end."

Ann and Tim Felker have nine children, a son and eight daughters, one of whom had been a Queen of Peace altar server. "The girls were offended," said Ann Felker, "not impressed with the bishop at all. They felt Father Jeff had presented the situation well, but think blackmail is not a pretty sight."

Felker, who said some of her adult daughters had served on the altar at other times in other places, added, "They just don't understand someone who tries to outdo the pope. Our opinion is the bishop has us over a barrel and in order to protect the better things we do, we'll have to give on this and find other ways of uplifting our young women."

The parish board's decision was difficult, said President Tom Dickinson. "At the previous week's meeting -- it was a long and contentious meeting -- there were some very heartfelt and well-stated positions." Dickinson said he found people to be "remarkably subdued" during breakfast in the church hall, served after the second Sunday Mass. Dickinson said Duaime's conciliatory tone "may have diffused some of the potential ill will."

Parishioners thought the bishop's action had left the pastor with little choice, Dickinson said.

O'Connor, who wanted a full parish meeting before the board's vote, said, "In a democracy, there are some winners, some losers, though I still think we did something wrong on that. It was a very difficult (board) decision. There were tears."

Duaime told NCR that parishioners were feeling "a lot of pain. There has been a strong reaction, a big shock, and understandably so. On the parish level, people have been supportive, but we have a lot to work through."

Keating ruled on Nov. 21, 1994, that his diocese would continue to prohibit altar girls, citing altar service as a recruiting ground for future priests. The ruling was prompted by the Vatican's announcement eight months earlier that individual bishops could decide whether to allow girls to serve in their dioceses.

A ban on altar girls was dropped in the church's revised Code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1983. Female servers had been banned by the former code, adopted in 1917.