Do you tend to discount (or be somewhat dismissive) of priests/nuns who wear "civilian" clothes?

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Do you tend to discount (or be somewhat dismissive) of priests/nuns who wear “civilian” clothes?

In other words, do you not take them as seriously if they are wearing normal street clothes instead of clericals/habits?
 
Not dismissive. But I do wonder why they go for street cloths in the case of nuns. I think the habits they wore were a wonderful sign of consecration of being set aside for God.
 
Of course, I do. Much in the same way a large growling dog who is jumping at the fence trying to bite is usually correctly identified as aggressive.

Until they prove that they are not wearing their clericals for a good reason such as having them ripped off them in physical combat or they are in disguise to spread the gospel in extreme circumstances, they lost their clothes traveling, or require special civilian clothes for a certain situation such as swimming, etc. Any extraordinary circumstance then that would be fine. But to deny the faith by publically not professing their dedication to Christ, I would be suspect of their commitment.
We shouldn’t be lukewarm nor expect it of others.

If I do not try to spread the faith everyday, pray and worry about others salvation I am betraying Christ’s command to take up my Cross daily.

In Christ
Scylla
 
I agree, that choice of attire does not always constitute denial of faith, as there is very good reasons not to wear clericals and I gave some of them, for certain situations it can be necessary not to wear them.

The rest of the time we should die to ourselves and live for Christ, to not do so is a denial of our faith. Unfortunately we have become used to a lukewarm type of faith professed that is not obedient to Christ and obedient to human comfort.

Every priest/nun should publically be a witness to Christ, and a habit is the Christian way of showing this in our dress.

God Bless,
Scylla
 
scylla said:
…Every priest/nun should publically be a witness to Christ, and a habit is the Christian way of showing this in our dress…
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(emphasis mine)

I agree with you up to this point. Clerical dress or a religious habit is a way of showing witness to Christ, but it is not the only way. Different choice of attire does not necessarily constitute denial of witness even if done so for reasons that do not meet your personal standards of good.
 
What reasons would be appropriate, if it is done out of necessity or comfort then that is just fine. The priest who celebrated Mass at my parish went home in civilian clothes but he is going home to sleep, not out into public. There is a big difference.

To do so in public without a reason other than to conform to societies pressure, is a denial of faith.

That is not my standard, it is God’s will to place Him before men. We should always put our witness to God first before our desire to fit in with the world. This is not my personal opinion but a requirement to be a faithful Christian.

Obedience to God is not a matter of opinions or our standards but a submission of will to God. Now we can never know a persons heart but it is wise to be prudent in whom we trust as a Christian witness.

In Christ
Scylla
 
scylla said:
…This is not my personal opinion but a requirement to be a faithful Christian…
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Sorry, but I still have to disagree with you here. A particular clothing style is not a requirement to be a faithful Christian.
 
I never said it was a requirement, my point is that if we have the ability to be a witness and we do not out of fear or sloth we are denying Christ.

Probably all of us are guilty of this from time to time, but to those who are given more, more is required. Again as I said, I might seem a little extreme, but that is because lukewarm expressions of faith is more common these days.

If you disagree please give a reason as it seems like you are discounting my reasons without justification. God should be first and foremost in our lives and if we have the ability to preach the Gospel always such as like priests and religious do have it should be done. To not do so is to not bear witness to Christ.

Scylla
 
scylla said:
…if we have the ability to be a witness and we do not out of fear or sloth we are denying Christ…
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Accepting that this may be true, why should we presume that any cleric or religious who does not wear clothing deemed correct by you, for reasons deemed good by you, is doing so for reasons of fear or sloth? Why is it our business to speculate about their reasons at all?
 
Although I’ve been guilty of being overly critical in the past, I try not to judge clergy who walk around in street clothes. Many times, I think we, as Catholics, are far too critical of our beloved priests, especially on these forums.

I think many of us on these forums (myself included) need to concentrate more on supporting our priests instead of spending time criticizing everything they do.
 
While I believe that clothes do not maketh the man /woman from my experience priests who do not wear clericals are lukewarm. having said that though I have probably only met four or five priests who *did *wear clericals. I don’t know any nuns who wear a habit. The ones in my parish are dear old girls.
 
No I don’t judge people on their clothing and I hope they don’t judge me that way. I do expect people who are speaking and acting with an authority that comes from their position to dress in a way that connotes that position, or that is required by that position. The priest at Mass must vest in the way required by the rubrics. If he is teaching or otherwise representing the Church in some public forum, I expect him to dress as his bishop or religious superior has prescribed, in clerical dress or religious habit. If he does not, it raises a question why or why not. In his free time I except he should dress in a way appropriate for the activity at hand–sports, yard work, leisure etc.

In the case of a religious sister or brother I assume they are dressed as directed by their order, and since I don’t belong to their order, it is none of my business as long as the attire is modest and appropriate. I see nothing wrong with religious dressing like lay persons in their state of life, as that is the origin of the habit in any case. What is distinctive about the religious habit is the scapular which can still be worn, even if mode of dress is modern.
 
Similar thread from awhile back:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=154087

This is my response:

I work for the Church and I often go to lunch or drinks with a priest. Sometimes in the collar, sometimes not. When in the collar, our lunch has gotten interrupted up to 4 times…with no one needing anything sacramental, but just neutral (sometimes rude) unsolicited comments. Not even questions, but just a rude interruption.

I think the priest, on their “day off” (of work) could be allowed to wear regular clothes. I know they are always a priest, but an occasional uninterrupted meal I’m sure would be welcome.
 
Is the question referring to those who “minister” in their street attire? Or just to priests and nuns who own and wear, on occasion, street attire?
 
agapewolf said:
Similar thread from awhile back:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=154087

This is my response:

I work for the Church and I often go to lunch or drinks with a priest. Sometimes in the collar, sometimes not. When in the collar, our lunch has gotten interrupted up to 4 times…with no one needing anything sacramental, but just neutral (sometimes rude) unsolicited comments. Not even questions, but just a rude interruption.

I think the priest, on their “day off” (of work) could be allowed to wear regular clothes. I know they are always a priest, but an occasional uninterrupted meal I’m sure would be welcome.
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I agree with that completely! I was having a casual lunch with a friend and his seminarian brother (wearing the collar) about a month ago and the downright rude comments thrown at all of us were not worth it…
 
dan said:
Although I’ve been guilty of being overly critical in the past, I try not to judge clergy who walk around in street clothes. Many times, I think we, as Catholics, are far too critical of our beloved priests, especially on these forums.

I think many of us on these forums (myself included) need to concentrate more on supporting our priests instead of spending time criticizing everything they do.
Click to expand...
👍
 
Priests, yes unless there is more appropriate clothing for the occasion (for instance, if they’re doing yard work or at the gym or something). There’s no reason to hide you’re a priest unless you live in China or Saudi Arabia or somewhere like that where they’ll kill you for it. Nuns, same. “Pantsuit nuns”, or ones that don’t wear habits, have a reputation for being less serious about their nunly vocation than ones traditionally vested (Caveat: I can’t say how true it is; the only nuns I know well are in habits, and they’re hardcore nuns).
 
AdvanceAlways said:
I agree with that completely! I was having a casual lunch with a friend and his seminarian brother (wearing the collar) about a month ago and the downright rude comments thrown at all of us were not worth it…
Click to expand...
We should always place God above inconvenience and peoples opinion. I know it is difficult but that is what we should do. I don’t say I do it all the time but I do try.

When we die, will we be able say that we always witnessed Christ in every way possible? Are rude comments an excuse to hide that you are Catholic?

We do spend too much time criticizing, and criticism without focus is wrong and that is common. We do have many good priests and religious who do witness Christ and are very dedicated. We are all called to correct others in Christian charity, to not do so is wrong.
Anticlericalism is wrong, we should always support our Holy Priests.

God Bless
Scylla
 
AdvanceAlways said:
I agree with that completely! I was having a casual lunch with a friend and his seminarian brother (wearing the collar) about a month ago and the downright rude comments thrown at all of us were not worth it…
Click to expand...
But every such event is an opportunity to preach the gospel by action, not words; not only to the commenters but to all those who witness the exchange. Something about knowing the followers of Christ by their fruits…
 
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