Back to the habits?

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Ad_Deum

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Should priests,nuns/sisters, and brothers in our local dioceses wear their habits again; since, it is an identification of their office.

Diocesean priests= cassock, cinture, and biretta.
Religious/Abbey priests= franciscan cowl, etc.
Nuns/sisters= ankle lenght habits, and veils.

What do you think?

Pax
Laudater Jesus Christus
Instaurare omnia in Christo
 
Ad_Deum said:
Should priests,nuns/sisters, and brothers in our local dioceses wear their habits again; since, it is an identification of their office.
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It becomes a badge of status. You hear people saying of a monk who has committed some sexual offence “he has disgraced his habit”. This is an absurdity. The habit is meant to be a humble dress, the simplest garment that a man can wear. It cannot be disgraced.

So maybe nowadays it should be jeans and T-shirt?
 
I discussed this issue with my Priest and I was surprised at his thoughts on the matter.

My Priest wears his habit very rarely. Most of the time he wears normal clothes. When I asked about this he said that it was no longer safe to wear the habit in the modern world. He stated that in years gone by, society was far more religious and more accustomed to seeing Priests and Nuns in clerical garb. In today’s world, he said that he’d be attacked for wearing the dog collar. He told me that he’d been spat at and hit in the past when out walking in the habit; he even told me that he’d been punched in the face by a drug addict.

I’ll admit that I thought the decline in the use of the habit was a result of liberalism. However, after this discussion I now know that in some instances, this is not the case.

I do believe that religious should wear the habit most of the time but I do recognise that there are some instances when it is not prudent to do so.
 
Of course priests and religious should wear their traditional garb. It marks them out in society as people who have dedicated their lives to God and the service of His Church.
 
Actually, I didn’t read what you considered the “habit”. I do believe that they should wear something that is modest, inexpensive and different from the rest of the world in order to identify them. I don’t think it is not safe here in the US because I see Sisters and Nuns in habits (some knee length, limited veils) and our Priests all wear a the very least their black shirts and collars and we live in the High desert.

Brenda V.
 
Yes, I think they should, except when they’re lubing the car or fixing the plumbing, et al. It is a sign of committment, evangelization and gives us (or some of us) a feeling of not being so alone out in the world as Catholics.👍
 
I get a very relaxed feeling seeing Priests and Religious wearing their Traditional garb. It is a statement of their ministry and I believe it helps in getting converts. I sometimes lose respect for people who are afraid to wear their “uniform” in public. I believe they should stand out from “the rest of the crowd”, especially since they have the highest calling.
 
brigid12 said:
Yes, I think they should, except when they’re lubing the car or fixing the plumbing, et al. It is a sign of committment, evangelization and gives us (or some of us) a feeling of not being so alone out in the world as Catholics.👍
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I agree!!
 
There are some orders who have never worn so-called “traditional” garb. They are every bit as dedicated, ever bit as consecrated, as those who do wear a habit.

So, it’s really up to them. They don’t, after all, tell me what to wear.
 
What is considered religious garb is often an issue of time and place. I do not see a problem with a priest wearing a black suit with the clerical collar. And given the fact that it has been no secret that we have priests with homosexual tendecies (there are any number of books out there which establish the fact), frankly I would prefer to see them in something that seems manly - a suit - and not something that seems a bit on the feminine side - a cassock.

I am familiar with the cassock; my pastor pre-Vatican 2 wore one; he also wore a suit and clerical collar. Even in grade school I preferred the suit.

It might be noted that there was a picture of the then Cardinal Ratzinger with a group of people; I think it was in one of the more recent National Catholic Register papers. He was dressed in what appeared to be a lighter gray suit, with a necktie. Note that this would be considered proper wear for a priest in Europe. Style is often what we know personally and are personally comfortable with. I think perhaps there are serious enough issues in the Church that we do not need to overly concern ourselves with cassocks.
 
otjm said:
It might be noted that there was a picture of the then Cardinal Ratzinger with a group of people; I think it was in one of the more recent National Catholic Register papers. He was dressed in what appeared to be a lighter gray suit, with a necktie. Note that this would be considered proper wear for a priest in Europe. Style is often what we know personally and are personally comfortable with. I think perhaps there are serious enough issues in the Church that we do not need to overly concern ourselves with cassocks.
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I believe that the picture you are referring to is a picture of Joseph Ratzinger with Karl Rahner taken while at Vatican II. This was in the height of his progressive days, and he caught much flak from the more Traditional curialists during the Council. He has since become much more Traditional and has brought several of the Traditional Papal garments back to the Papacy, such as the Papal Slippers.
 
otjm said:
And given the fact that it has been no secret that we have priests with homosexual tendecies (there are any number of books out there which establish the fact), frankly I would prefer to see them in something that seems manly - a suit - and not something that seems a bit on the feminine side - a cassock.
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Wow, I can’t believe what I read. What a generalization. I live in Texas and wouldn’t even hear this comment here.
 
SemperFidelis said:
I believe that the picture you are referring to is a picture of Joseph Ratzinger with Karl Rahner taken while at Vatican II. This was in the height of his progressive days, and he caught much flak from the more Traditional curialists during the Council. He has since become much more Traditional and has brought several of the Traditional Papal garments back to the Papacy, such as the Papal Slippers.
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No, this picture was more recent; there were about 20 or 25 people in the picture and he was in the fornt row. and it most definitely was not taken as long ago as Vatican 2, as he appeared to be in his 50s to 60’s. As noted, he was Cardinal at the time.
 
Is it good to actually keep the vow of poverty by wearing cheap secular clothes?

The garb of Holy Poverty is actually quite expensive.
 
brigid12 said:
Yes, I think they should, except when they’re lubing the car or fixing the plumbing, et al. It is a sign of committment, evangelization and gives us (or some of us) a feeling of not being so alone out in the world as Catholics.👍
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…

the cassocked ones where I attend do everything in their cassocks…even playing soccer, hiking, mending roofs…

the look very good in heavy boots…they can be jolly hot though I believe…the nuns feed the chooks and do domestic stuff with an apron etc over all
 
I didn’t vote because there was no option for what I think.

Secular priests should dress in clerics when they are doing their ministry. Right now it is up to them, or their bishops, if they are to dress this way all the time or not. For myself, I would dress in clerics for most things.

Religious priests/brothers should wear the habit of their order/congregation when they are ministering. The order/congregation sets the rules within their constitutions. If the order/congregation does not have a habit in their constitutions I think they need to look at their history and see if they did have a habit in the beginning. If so then they should return to it. If not then they should wear clerics while ministering.

Sisters should wear the habit if their order/congregation has one. Not all orders/congregations of sisters had habits and those that didn’t shouldn’t be forced into one but they should wear something simple and distinctive.
 
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