Thursday, March 23, 2006

Diocese of Lincoln is the only one in the US without "altar girls"

I say, "Congrats to Bishop Bruskewitz!"
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., is the only one in America that prohibits altar girls in church after a Northern Virginia diocese dropped its ban this week.

In Arlington, Va., Bishop Paul Loverde of the 67-parish diocese ended the restriction Tuesday, almost 12 years after Pope John Paul II granted bishops permission for altar girls.
Very misleading is the above statement. In fact, many parishes allowed "altar girls" years before the permission was granted. An open act of defiance by many priests and bishops was subsequently approved by the Pope. At least, it still remains up to the individual priest whether he will allow them.
[Bishop] Bruskewitz, whose diocese includes 136 churches and 89,412 members around Nebraska's state capital, believes having only boys at the altar helps recruit them to become priests, said the Rev. Mark Huber, chancellor of the diocese.
The facts are irrefutable :
He said Bruskewitz's practice has helped boost Lincoln's "exceptional number of vocations to the priesthood."
Compare the number of vocations in the Diocese of Lincoln with others. And, of course, there are the same old malcontents in Lincoln that we see elsewhere, such as:
John Krejci, a church activist and former priest in Lincoln, doesn't expect the bishop to change his mind. "He's very much anti-female," said Krejci, who attended seminary with Bruskewitz. Krejci co-founded the Nebraska branch of Call to Action, a Catholic group at odds with Bruskewitz and the church on priestly celibacy and women priests.
Get it? Not allowing "altar girls" is anti-female...What a clown...People should thank God he's no longer a priest, since he seems to have already rejected the faith.

The article states that Bishop Loverde believes that his recent decision to allow altar girls "may help young women hear "the Lord's call to religious life" as nuns." One would have to ask, after years upon years of "altar girls" all over the US, just how many felt the call to religious life from their special service?


Article here.

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