Community members, priests stand up for altar girls
At Star of the Sea parish and school in the San Francisco diocese, parents and community members are standing up for their community. They say that their new pastor is abusing his power and doesn't fit their community. In addition to several other unpopular moves, he announced in November that girls would no longer be allowed to serve on the Altar. The issue grabbed the attention of local media in January when the diocese falsely claimed the ban only applied to the Latin Mass.
CTA has been supporting some of the local organizers who are standing up for their community. The parishioners have sent over 70 letters to the Bishop and Nuncio, launched a website and gathered the support of priests and leaders at nearby parishes. A town hall style meeting organized by parents of the school was attended by Auxillary Bishop Vicar General Willam Justice. Over 100 concerned parents attended, along with the faculty and staff. Sixteen parents spoke, describing the crisis at the school and its negative impact on the children, the parents, and the teachers. Uninvited members of the media also attended and filed reports about this emotional meeting" say the organizers.
Parent organizers have also been talking to priests from nearby parishes, who don't support the changes Fr. Illo has imposed. According to NCR, the issue came up at a meeting of the Archdiocese' Council of Priests. At the meeting, priests told the Archbishop that they'd had to spend a lot of time discussing the issue of Fr. Illo's ban with their own concerned parishioners. One Auxillary Bishop is reported to have said "excluding girls from being altar servers is 'invidious discrimination' and to do this in this day and age in our culture has no justification." Fr. Illo, on the other hand, called the uproar at the school "a necessary purging" and said, “altar girls are permitted if there is a pastoral need, but you have to prove the need. It is not the normal way of doing things." Our Church is certainly made better by the courageous parents standing up for their parish and school and refusing to let unpastoral language silence their right to build a better Church!
