North Carolina bishop bans use of altar rails at diocesan high schools
Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte, North Carolina, has implemented new liturgical guidelines at the three Catholic high schools he oversees that include the removal of altar rails and kneelers during Communion.
The updated directives include several changes to how Mass is celebrated in these educational settings, according to The Catholic Herald. Students will now receive Holy Communion either kneeling without a rail or standing, and must serve as extraordinary ministers during the liturgy.
The school chapels must also have projectors and screens to display hymn lyrics and liturgical texts, including the Gloria and the Creed, in place of printed materials.
At larger school Masses, a student will deliver a personal testimony about their faith, lasting three to five minutes, between the final prayer and the dismissal.
According to The Catholic Herald, no official diocesan announcement has been made, with the instructions instead communicated privately to the schools.
One high school has already begun experiencing these changes. The Catholic Herald reported in August that Bishop Martin directed the chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School to stop using an altar rail for Eucharistic distribution. The chaplain now may only distribute Communion outside of the sanctuary. The rail, which was installed in 2017 and had been used during daily Mass, remains in place, but many students and staff now kneel on the floor to receive the Sacrament.
Father Aaron Huber, chaplain at Christ the King Catholic High School in Huntersville, stated in a letter to parents that the changes aim “to enrich our students’ experience of the Mass and to provide them with opportunities to grow as intentional disciples of Jesus Christ.”
The school-level directives follow a period of broader liturgical controversy within the diocese under Bishop Martin.
Earlier this year, a draft of proposed diocesan liturgical norms was circulated unofficially, prompting widespread concern, CatholicVote reported. The draft included proposals to require all parish liturgies to be celebrated exclusively in English, banning the use of altar rails during Communion, and confining the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) to one chapel in Mooresville.
The policy set July 8 as the date for ending parish-based TLM across the diocese. However, in response to community feedback, Bishop Martin later extended the timeline to the original Vatican extension date of Oct. 2, citing pastoral concerns.
