Cassock is so chic

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anonymous1995

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I find the cassock very ‘chic’ and stylish! Anyone sharing the same feeling with me?
 
I’m not sure I’d call it ‘chic’, but I do like the way it looks, I wish more modern priests wore it. 🙂
 
Kind of unfair to the many holy and wonderful priests who chose not to wear one don’t you think?

God bless our priests whatever they wear, for their ministry to us during Advent, Christmas, and everyday.
 
I always liked when priests wore cassocks. Our young priest wears one, and it makes him look very holy (sorry, but I cannot get the correct sentiment out).
 
I think a cassock it a wonderful item of clothing. There is a historical meaning behind it (I forget the precise meaning!)
Also it is instantly possible to recognize the wearer as a priest, in a way that is not so instant as for a suit. As such one can ask his help, pray for him, say ‘hello father’ or just have that enjoyment of recognizing a fellow Catholic in public.
If I see a priest in a cassock in public I always try to complement him on the public statement he is making about himself. It’s great.
 
No. Of all the words I could think of to describe the cassocks I have owned over the decades, “chic” is not one of them. In fact, the cassock is meant to be the opposite of chic.

You may wish to think of how you are formulating what you intend as a compliment. If that were said to me, I would not take it as a compliment at all…personally, I would be horrified by the comment.
 
All of our FSSP priests wear the cassock. I really appreciate it when I see a diocesan priest that is “bold” enough to wear one. And there are a few of them. The same ones will wear a biretta too. 👍
 
I’m just grateful to have Priests to celebrate Mass. I really don’t care if they wear the cassock or not. A Man of the Cloth is a Man of the Cloth, cassock or not. God bless them all.
 
Swisscath said:
I think a cassock it a wonderful item of clothing. There is a historical meaning behind it (I forget the precise meaning!)
Also it is instantly possible to recognize the wearer as a priest, in a way that is not so instant as for a suit. As such one can ask his help, pray for him, say ‘hello father’ or just have that enjoyment of recognizing a fellow Catholic in public.
If I see a priest in a cassock in public I always try to complement him on the public statement he is making about himself. It’s great.
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“. . . statement he is making about himself.” And there you have it. I don’t understand how a cassock is more recognizable than a Roman Collar. And I think clergy should be recognized by what they do, not what they wear.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
“. . . statement he is making about himself.” And there you have it. I don’t understand how a cassock is more recognizable than a Roman Collar. And I think clergy should be recognized by what they do, not what they wear.
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Exactly. Any priest who is “making a statement about himself” is a great danger to the Church.
 
Several priests I know wear the cassock. All reject the idea the cassock is chic or stylish, or that they are making a statement about themselves by wearing it.

Other priests I know wear the Roman collar but no cassock. Still others don’t wear the Roman collar. It’s all good. I personally like the cassock, but I don’t think differently - and certainly not less - about priests who elect not to wear it.

May our priests’ actions in the exercise of their vocation be their voices in the name of Christ and His Holy Church, not the attire they choose to don. God bless them for answering His call!
 
Oops sorry for creating confusion. By ‘chic and stylish’ I mean I don’t know why cassocks give me a special attraction making me think that it is ‘handsome’…sigh so difficult to describe that feeling…

If only I could be worthy of putting on one…
 
I understand you OP, however, I find religious stick out in a crowd, cassock or not. Cassocks just make them more obvious to non-religious.

re·li·gious, adjective
1.relating to or believing in a religion.
synonyms: devout, pious, reverent, godly, God-fearing, churchgoing, faithful, devoted, committed

A religious, noun
1.a person bound by monastic vows.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
“. . . statement he is making about himself.” And there you have it. I don’t understand how a cassock is more recognizable than a Roman Collar. And I think clergy should be recognized by what they do, not what they wear.
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A man in a Roman collar could also be an Anglican or Lutheran minister.
 
1neophyte said:
Exactly. Any priest who is “making a statement about himself” is a great danger to the Church.
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What do you mean by this? Is wearing the traditional cassock problematic? Pope Francis wears a cassock every day. All Eastern priests continue to wear the equivalent of a cassock. Clerical garb, to my mind, does the exact opposite of making a “personal statement”. It identifies the man as a priest of the Lord. It doesn’t matter who he is personally…you know he is a priest and through him you can encounter our Sacramental Lord.
 
twf said:
What do you mean by this? Is wearing the traditional cassock problematic? Pope Francis wears a cassock every day. All Eastern priests continue to wear the equivalent of a cassock. Clerical garb, to my mind, does the exact opposite of making a “personal statement”. It identifies the man as a priest of the Lord. It doesn’t matter who he is personally…you know he is a priest and through him you can encounter our Sacramental Lord.
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Pope Francis is not the only one to wear the cassock every day – but, like what he has chosen to do, it is best when it is an extremely simplified form and devoid of the elaborate. Cardinals in the highest placed offices often wear today the simple black cassock for daily wear…the scarlet zucchetto alone letting the person meeting them know that they are, in fact, cardinals.

The United States is not Europe and the bishops, in the 19th century, made specific provision for what a priest could and could not wear on the street. And I observed the provision when I would come to the States. I do not know the provision in place for Anglophone Canada, then or now.

A person having an unbalanced fixation on the cassock – or anything, for that matter – can indeed be problematic in a candidate for Sacred Orders, as any priest who has been involved with formation work can tell you.

I have no idea how to understand your qualifier “traditional”. A cassock is a cassock. A traditional cassock, for me, is one tailored in the fashion of the early 20th century or before – but we modernised the fascia and other aspects because of modern methods of tailoring, which makes it a much nicer garment to actually wear.

Part of the problem I remark in North America is that the cassock was caught up in the ideological struggles. Where I am, the cassock is worn and worn hardly infrequently…but you can’t draw from an ecclesiastic wearing it any insight into his outlooks, except perhaps when he is doing things such as the Holy Father had occasion to critique in his recent homily.

For those who have a problem…yes, they actually are making a personal statement by what they choose to wear. Which is what formators are attentive to.
anonymous1995 said:
Oops sorry for creating confusion. By ‘chic and stylish’ I mean I don’t know why cassocks give me a special attraction making me think that it is ‘handsome’…sigh so difficult to describe that feeling…

If only I could be worthy of putting on one…
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Well, it is a very distinctive garment, to be sure. In their modern iteration, they are typically quite well made and well presented.

I do not profess to know how the word “chic” may be used in North America but in Europe, it is traditionally associated with haute couture…either because it is avant-garde or because it has a quality of elegance and luxe, which a cassock should not be or have. It should not have the quality of being elegant or of stylishness or being, as we say, à la mode. That would be disturbing.

Although there was some Hollywood movie some years back where the protagonist was wearing a cassock of a sort and I remember especially the young people at the time looking at the garment through different eyes than how we who wear it would see it. It was some adventure movie…perhaps even science fiction, I think. I never saw it except on billboard advertisements and the actor was doing a sort of gymnastic I would never attempt while wearing one.

Beyond that, I don’t really know how to understand your last sentence.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
So can a person in a cassock (be an Anglican or Lutheran).
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Indeed. I am thinking about our interfaith San Francisco Night Ministry, where clergy spend nights walking the streets, caring for those who need care the most. Many will wear cassocks to identity themselves.

I also am thinking about Ashes to Go on Ash Wednesday. Again interfaith. Many of the clergy will wear cassocks or sometimes a surplus and/or stole over the cassock for the imposition of ashes. Chic? Not so much. Mostly identifiable reasons. Although the long woolen cloak is very nice to have over a cassock, especially in cold winter months when you are standing outside for long periods of time.

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