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ARLINGTON, Va., Mar 22, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Female altar servers are now allowed in Arlington, Va., leaving Lincoln, Neb., as the only U.S. Roman Catholic archdiocese to still ban them, a report said.
Under Tuesday's decision by Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde, girls and women in the diocese's 21 counties may assist at mass as soon as Sunday, which individual priests may institute after consulting with parish leadership and informing the bishop.
The decision to allow female altar servers will allow Catholics to "participate more reverently, more actively, more fully" in Mass, Loverde told The Washington Post.
Parishioners and clergy were on both sides of the issue, the bishop said.
"This is long overdue, and the right decision," said the Rev. Horace Grinnell of Falls Church, Va.
However, parishioner Kenneth Wolfe was disappointed by the change in tradition.
Loverde Tuesday also allowed reintroduction of the Latin mass -- the Catholic standard until 1962 -- in churches at Alexandria and Royal, Va.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
