Your gift counts double until 5/31: $29,165 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Philadelphia's Archbishop Chaput: girls can join CYO football teams

CWN - March 15, 2013

The Philadelphia archdiocese has announced that girls will be allowed to compete in a football league organized by the Catholic Youth Organization next year.

Archbishop Charles Chaput had assembled a committee of priests, coaches, and health-care workers to discuss a proposal to end the ban on girls in the football league. The committee recommended retaining the rule. But the archbishop, after consulting "additional sources," decided to allow girls to compete.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($29,165 to go):
$80,000.00 $50,834.70
36% 64%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

Show 2 Comments? (Hidden)Hide Comments
  • Posted by: jimgrum697380 - Mar. 16, 2013 10:51 AM ET USA

    "And there is only one way of smashing the resistance...and that is to find, in the very society which surrounds us, the forces which can...constitute the power capable of sweeping away the old and creating the new..."(Lenin) This language of Lenin is alive and well today in the arena of culture. There's a new way of thinking, a new understanding of nature. We entertain the possibilities. We're progressive. We will break down barriers; we will not look back. Exaggeration? Hopefully.

  • Posted by: DrJazz - Mar. 16, 2013 9:49 AM ET USA

    Gotta say: As much as I think Archbishop Chaput is absolutely correct in his statements regarding Church teachings and the moral failings of American society, this is one of those areas where he should have remembered the principle of subsidiarity. If the committee recommended retaining a "ban" on girls playing football, he should have retained it. I love football, but it's a brutal game. Boys shouldn't play it until they're in the eighth grade at least; girls shouldn't play it at all.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Learning from the sick, and from the death of a child May 17
The case for change in Irish abortion law: based on a framework of falsehood May 17
The Smell of the Sheep May 16
Too many missing funds: Catholic institutions need tighter financial controls May 16
What capitalists should learn from the Pope's critique May 16

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8