San Francisco Priest Bans Girls From Being Altar Servers
A San Francisco priest recently made the decision to ban girls from being altar servers in his church.
The Rev. Joseph Illo, who serves as pastor at Star of the Sea Church, opted to no longer let there be female altar servers due to the position's "intrinsic connection" to the priesthood. Illo figured that since women cannot be priests that there is no reason for them to be altar servers.
"If the Catholic Church ordained women, altar girls would make sense, but the Catholic priesthood is a male charism," he said, according to the National Catholic Reporter. "Nothing awakens a desire for the priesthood like service at the altar among the brotherhood of young men. At the risk of generalizing, I suspect young men serving with young women might just distract them from the sacrifice of the Mass, and perhaps even from a priestly vocation."
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This parish will now be the only one in the Richmond District that will ban girls from being altar servers. Pastors have the ability to make that call, according to archdiocese spokesman Chris Lyford.
Parishioner Nancy Bye spoke to the SFGate regarding the church's reaction to the decision and if people disagreed with the move.
"I think a few people," she said. "I think a lot of the people who are upset are not parishioners."
The church currently only uses adults to assist the pastor during masses. Altar boys are reserved for services at the parish's Star of the Sea School.
The girls who have already been trained to serve can continue to do so, however, they will eventually be phased out. The altar boy program will shift to being a "male bonding experience."
The rule which allowed females to be altar servers went into effect in 1994.
