Dear Kristin:

I applaud you for using the correct term, "extraordinary". Many do not use that adjective and thus pretend they are "ordinary" ministers of the communion. As the title implies, the position is suppose to be used only in temporary situations in which there are not enough priests, deacons, or installed acolytes (a formal kind of extraordinary minister) are available. I will talk more about that later.

The use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMC) are seriously abused in this country (U.S.). For some, they think that it is a "right" to be a EMC. No one has to "right" to be any kind of officer in the Church, even a deacon, a Priest, or a bishop. No one has a right to be an EMC. Some people think that being a EMC (which is an extraordinary position) is the way to participate in the Mass. It is not. The proper and "ordinary" place for the laity to assist at Mass is in the pews.

With that said, when EMCs are used, women can serve in that position. The reason that women can serve at the altar is because of a loophole in Canon Law. Here is the pertinent Canon Law:

Can.  910 §1. The ordinary minister of holy communion is a bishop, presbyter, or deacon.

§2. The extraordinary minister of holy communion is an acolyte or another member of the Christian faithful designated according to the norm of can. 230, §3.

Can. 230 §1. Lay men who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministries of lector and acolyte.

Nevertheless, the conferral of these ministries does not grant them the right to obtain support or remuneration from the Church.

§2. Lay persons can fulfill the function of lector in liturgical actions by temporary designation. All lay persons can also perform the functions of commentator or cantor, or other functions, according to the norm of law.

§3. When the need of the Church warrants it and ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply certain of their duties, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to preside offer liturgical prayers, to confer baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion, according to the prescripts of the law.

The phrases I put in bold are the operative words, the loopholes. Women are lay persons, thus, technically, these Canon Laws do permit women (and girls) to serve at the altar, despite 2000 years of tradition and practice.

The Pope could close this loophole, like he has done on other issues, but he didn't. I think the reason he did not close the loophole was that there is nothing about serving at the altar that is fundamentally requires males, technically. But, I think that the major reason the Pope did not close the loophole because the he has to choose his battles. If he had closed this loophole there would would been a cry of outrage so loud that could be heard all the way to Mars from the biggest bunch of babies on the planet — Americans.

Americans have always been a royal pain to the Popes because the United States was born and exists today as a liberal society and liberals are big babies and have tantrums when they do not get their way. The Pope, like any father, cannot invest himself in every battle his immature children come up with, he must choose his battles.

America is a Protestant culture, a Protestant culture is a Liberal culture. Even if one is a conservative Protestant or a conservative nothing, he is still in living within the Liberal worldview, the worldview in which the individual becomes the only source of truth. This allows for Protestantism, which more than 32,000 denominations, to all think they have the truth, even though they contradict each other. There is no objective authority; authority is the self. For more detailed information on this, listen to my Chronicles of Catholic Commentary program, The Protestant Dilemma. 

The way it is suppose to work is that the ordinary ministers of communion (bishops, priest, and deacons) are to perform the offices of the Mass (deacons serving at the alter). Then, if there are not enough priests and deacons to do this, Installed Officers (installed Acolytes and Lectors) do the job of serving at the alter and reading. Only if there are not enough Installed Officers are we to even begin to think of the laity from the pew.

The problem for the big babies of America is the the installed offices of Acolyte and Lector are reserved to men. Thus, in my opinion, since most bishops haven't the guts to appoint sufficient numbers of Installed Officers, the ordinary laity from the pews fulfill this function. That opens the door for woman and girls serving at the altar and also reading.

It is important to note that allowing women and girls to serve at the altar is permitted, but is not a mandated. No priest must have altar girls. It is their choice. There is one diocese, I think, in which the Bishop has prohibited the practice of woman and girls at the alter for his entire diocese.

The offices of the Mass has been served by men for 2000 years (and by tradition to include boys as a recruitment facility for the priesthood. It is only this canonical loophole that allows women and girls to serve at the altar today. Even with that loophole, Pope John Paul II said that the tradition of altar boys should be given respect and priority.

I personally think that it is unwise to allow this loophole to exist, but I am not the one sitting in the Chair of Peter, thus I do not have the Pope's perspective. I would say, that if I were a priest, as long as I am allowed the decision, I would never allow women to serve at the altar or to read. That is properly the job of Acolyte and Lector, to which if the bishop did not appointed men to these installed offices, I would informally depute only men to those positions.

As a Catholic I respect and obey the Pope's decisions. Thus, neither I or anyone else may disrespect or disparage those priests who use female servers, or the females servers themselves. It is allowed. This does not mean that a woman asked to be an EMC must accept the invitation. St. Paul said that just because something is allowed, does not automatically make it beneficial or prudent.

But, as mentioned, it is allowed, and thus women can freely accept this position according to their own conscience, and the rest of us need to support her in this honor.

Your sisters are wrong and out-of-line to not support you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary