In a move that’s sure to leave the most conservative members of the church wailing and grinding their teeth in anguish, Bishop Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington announced that for the first time, girls and women will now be allowed to become altar servers in the Diocese. That leaves Lincoln, Nebraska as the only diocese in the United States that forbids females from serving at the altar.

The Post article discussing the change included a quote by a person who bemoaned the fact that women are now allowed to serve at the altar, after all, “every person who served Mass was always male — just like the apostles were all male because Christ picked them”… Call me a heretic, but could it be possible that the stories in the bible were written entirely from a male perspective as was the tradition in the time of Christ, hence the male bias in scripture??? I think we’ve progressed beyond that mentality, although it did take the Diocese of Arlington a LONG time to figure that one out. Sheesh, we allow women to vote and they expect to serve at Mass too??? Inconceivable!!!

That said, traditionalists should fear not! True to Newton’s third law of motion (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), there’s a corresponding backwards step clause, as the bishop kindly reminded the laity that the despite the change, the rules of the Diocese still allows priests to continue the ban if they wish… Just find the right parish, and you’re golden, the discrimination can continue!