Infighting in the Vatican over new mass "rules."

THERE ARE REPORTS OF INfighting in the Vatican over draft rules aimed at cracking down on "abuses" in the Catholic Mass. The rules propose that altar boys will he preferred to altar girls, who should serve only when there is an unspecified "just pastoral cause." Conservatives have expressed concern that having altar girls might lead to a female priesthood. "Priests should never feel obligated to seek out girls for this function," the draft regulations state. The Vatican gave bishops the authority to allow altar girls to serve at Mass in 1994, and they serve widely in the US and elsewhere.

The proposed rules appeared in the Italian magazine Jesus. The rules state that priests may not allow ministers of other Christian denominations to participate in the Mass, unless authorized by a member of the hierarchy. Readings from texts other than the Bible will be forbidden, as will applauding and dancing during religious services. All Catholics, ordained and lay, will be encouraged to denounce "abuses" of the regulations to their bishops, or even to the Vatican itself.

A Vatican official suggested that the early publication of the draft was intended by opponents inside the Vatican to create controversy in order to weaken some of the more restrictive proposals. "This premature news is creating a journalistic sensation that is not helpful," he said.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and editor of the Catholic magazine America, said, "We had a whole generation of girls and women angry that they could not be servers at Mass. We don't need this grief."