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I just read that another Bishop (who is also a Cardinal) has (wisely) chosen to forbid altar girls. His wrote that his reasoning was, "because this is one of the main sources of vocations to the priesthood". Yup. This is what the Church has always said. Amen and amen; and a hearty thanks to his excellency Cardinal Rajinth (of Sri Lanka) for standing firmly on the Church's historic position.
That is, however, not all that I think important to point out for you. He also made it absolutely clear that he knows his place before God. In the same letter stating the prohibition above, he also said to his priests: "This cannot be changed at your discretion" and "do not think that it is in your faculty" to do otherwise.
Far too many Bishops have let things slide and have led many to eternal Hell in doing so. Our leaders are responsible to tell us what we are supposed to do--whether we like it or not. Authority may be something that most Americans have a hard time with, but that does not make it wrong for Catholic clergyman to use their authority properly.
Once, a number of years ago, I told a parishioner that he really needed to stop committing adultery because he was living outside of a state of grace and that his soul was in eternal danger. He claimed that I was "insensitive" to his situation and told me, "you just don't understand". Then proceeded to ignore my admonition. When someone else asked about it, he said, "that's just the priest's opinion".
What got us into this horrible state of confusion? Clergy must make the faith clear to their people; there are no justifications for not doing so. When people take the commandments of God as just someone's opinion, or as "suggestions", then they have essentially left the faith for a worldly "me first" rebellion. We may not like what those over us tell us to do, but that does not give us permission to ignore them. Let us take everything as coming from the hand of God, and (even those parts we dislike) let us learn from them how to be better Catholics.
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