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

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ASimpleSinner said:
Frs. Richard McBrien & Hans Kung, Sr. Joan Chittister, and Abp Milingo (now excommunicated.)

Google em individually, you will get a good taste of what they are offering.
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I recognize all but the first name. Nevermind.😦
 
I haven’t read the entire thread, but here’s my personal experience on nuns and priests in “civvies”:

The nearby parish has Sister “Ann” and Father “Bob”–Sister does not wear any kind of identifiable habit and Father does not wear clericals. Sister’s everyday apparel is usually faded jeans (even at Mass), although she wears a huge wooden Franciscan cross around her neck. Father also wears jeans and t-shirts and sneakers (even at Sunday Mass, you can see the frayed cuffs of his jeans under his vestments.)

Now I work at Wal*Mart, where the majority of people in the community do their grocery shopping… including Sister and Father. A few times I’ve greeted Sister with “Hello, Sister ‘Ann’” only to get a frosty glare and a tight-lipped smile in return. One time Father stopped at the bakery to place an order and when the girl he was speaking to asked for his name, he just said, “Bob”–not Father “Bob”.

It seems obvious to me that they aren’t too keen on people knowing that they are religious. The lack of habit I could deal with (at least I knew who they were), but the fact that neither seemed to want to acknowledge their holy vocation saddens me beyond words. To me, it would be like not wearing my wedding ring and refusing to respond to “Mrs. (my husband’s surname)”. It would hurt my husband and I can only imagine what it means to God.

What’s their excuse for not identifying themselves as God’s servants? We don’t live in a place where religious are being gunned down in the streets. We encourage our children to not be ashamed of making the sign of the cross or saying grace in public. But with this kind of example from people who have consecrated their lives to God, what are our children to think? No wonder we have a vocation crisis!
 
agapewolf said:
How disgraceful of you to judge the guy. Did you read the story? he came down at the end of their class, IN the rectory…probably meaning that it was later in the night.

This priest said he thought it was appropriate to wear the collar in public, and its the “only suit he wears”. but he doesn’t in his place of residence. He probably got comofortable at home, and then had to go out to lock everything up.

There is nothing disgraceful about that.
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Yes I did read it. He made an appearance to a bunch of impressionable RCIA students wearing a Hawaiian shirt. That means he appeared IN PUBLIC wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Is that the image of the priesthood that should be conveyed? Hasn’t the image of the priesthood been dragged through the mud enough, especially the last few years? No wonder nobody respects the priesthood or wants to be a priest any more.

And no, I did not “judge the guy.” I merely judged his judgment.
 
One of our local sisters [a rather conventional, and successful, order] commented on her surprise to find that they were to wear the habit at all times, except sleeping, illness etc. Before entering the order she had expected that they would relax in leisure clothes when off duty. Also they address each other as "Sister — " at all times. This maintains respect for each other and for themselves in their calling.
 
lepanto said:
Yes I did read it. He made an appearance to a bunch of impressionable RCIA students wearing a Hawaiian shirt. That means he appeared IN PUBLIC wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Is that the image of the priesthood that should be conveyed? Hasn’t the image of the priesthood been dragged through the mud enough, especially the last few years? No wonder nobody respects the priesthood or wants to be a priest any more.

And no, I did not “judge the guy.” I merely judged his judgment.
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Yes, you said “How disgraceful of him”.

Wearing a hawaiin shirt is not dragging the priesthood through the mud. lighten up.

I’m all for priests wearing the collars most of the time. I go to dinner occasionally with priests in civilian clothes who are orthodox, and have excellent relationships with young people, and by their example, the foster vocations. They wear their collars, most of the time, but an occasional casual shirt does call disgrace upon them.
 
I know someone who is blind. As it appears that the style of a priest’s clothes are the determinant of the effectiveness of his credibility as a representative of the Christian faith, how is my blind acquaintance to discern, when presented with a pair of preaching priests, which one is providing him with a proper path to purity?
 
The pastor of the church where I’m now running a Bible Study stopped in last night to meet those present… not wearing his clericals, although there had been a religious formation meeting of some sort (for Confirmation students?) in the church at the same time as our Bible Study.

However, the Brother (S.C., which is either the Sacred Heart or the Servants of Charity) walked in later on, in his brown habit with crucifix, et. al.
 
I think we get too hung up on what clerics and religious wear. Surely we all witness by what we say and how we live rather than by what we wear!
 
ASimpleSinner said:
You nailed a big part of it for me. If I had more experience with pious holy priests who wore business suits or plaid shirts and khakis, I think I would not have the subconscious wincing that I do when I meet a “plainclothes-er”.

In 30 some years, almost to the man, the priests I have known who wear “civies” seem to be the same priests who are promoting the most dissident causes…
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OK, all the photos and references to them that were in this post and the follow ups were deleted.

All of them were oversized?
 
I knew a nun, a patient in the hospital, who wore her veil and (the white thing around the face, and a little “dickie” portion of her habit even in bed, sick as she was. It caused quite a curiosity among the staff. This holy woman was witnessing in her own quiet way even on her sick-bed. Now that’s a nun!
 
This is similar to bishops who have dispensed with the genuflection and ring kissing. They want to be respected for themselves, not for their office.

Since we are called to repect the office,not the man, some might do better to accept respect for their office.
 
Some years back a priest related that he and three other priests frequently met for breadfast at a diner, all in civvies. One morning he was running late after a hospital call so came wearing his collar.

Their regular waitress expressed surprise that he was a priest. She admitted that she was a Catholic, but had not been to church fosince arriving in that area, a considerable time back. She was one of the many who just don’tget around to making contact with the Church after a move.

She asked him to hear her confession and returned to Church.

He was appalled that four priests had missed the opportunity to resuce a lost lamb for so long. He noted that he has worn his collar whenever he is in public ever since.
 
bluerose said:
I haven’t read the entire thread, but here’s my personal experience on nuns and priests in “civvies”:

The nearby parish has Sister “Ann” and Father “Bob”–Sister does not wear any kind of identifiable habit and Father does not wear clericals. Sister’s everyday apparel is usually faded jeans (even at Mass), although she wears a huge wooden Franciscan cross around her neck. Father also wears jeans and t-shirts and sneakers (even at Sunday Mass, you can see the frayed cuffs of his jeans under his vestments.)

Now I work at Wal*Mart, where the majority of people in the community do their grocery shopping… including Sister and Father. A few times I’ve greeted Sister with “Hello, Sister ‘Ann’” only to get a frosty glare and a tight-lipped smile in return. One time Father stopped at the bakery to place an order and when the girl he was speaking to asked for his name, he just said, “Bob”–not Father “Bob”.

It seems obvious to me that they aren’t too keen on people knowing that they are religious. The lack of habit I could deal with (at least I knew who they were), but the fact that neither seemed to want to acknowledge their holy vocation saddens me beyond words. To me, it would be like not wearing my wedding ring and refusing to respond to “Mrs. (my husband’s surname)”. It would hurt my husband and I can only imagine what it means to God.

What’s their excuse for not identifying themselves as God’s servants? We don’t live in a place where religious are being gunned down in the streets. We encourage our children to not be ashamed of making the sign of the cross or saying grace in public. But with this kind of example from people who have consecrated their lives to God, what are our children to think? No wonder we have a vocation crisis!
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Now, that’s terrible, I think. It does appear that they don’t want people to know they are in religion.

What a good analogy–not wearing one’s wedding ring and not responding to being addressed as “Mrs.”
 
pjfitzy said:
Surely we all witness by what we say and how we live rather than by what we wear!
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Why not witness by what is worn AND by what what we say/how we live? Are such things mutually exclusive?

On the contrary…clothes can either reinforce or contradict what is said/how we live.
 
scylla said:
I believe the thinking is not as in a dress code but in our witness to Christ.

I know a priests job is difficult and we should support him, the nuns job is difficult also and we should support her. In both instances this also requires an obedience until death of witnessing Christ to others and not just taking it like it is a dress code but service to God.

Sometimes people confuse the Church into thinking all it does is provide social service to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, but that cannot be separated from Her primary message of Salvation through Christ. It benefits my soul if I care for others, yet if I neglect their salvation I then am not truly seeing Christ in them. We need to unify the message of Salvation in our charity and witness.

When a nun is indistinguishable out in the field then our witness to Christ is lost. A Buddhist Monk is more of a witness as they would indeed be distinguisable. In the last 40 or so years many of us have become cowards to witnessing the faith.

In Christ
Scylla
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That sounds pretty much like doing the work of Christ to me:)

I, personally, like to see a sister wearing some symbol of her vocation, whether a short veil, crucifix, etc., but don’t think it’s really necessary for religious to dress like medieval peasants, which is where the traditional habit comes from.

I can also well understand priests wishing to be “anonymous” when out with friends, etc., especially these days when the transgressions of a relative few have resulted in suspicion towards the many, many good priestsl

But, that’s just my two cents worth.

God bless!
 
ASimpleSinner said:
LOL - you have all your bases covered don’t you?

Except imagine please that one of your passersby is not the priest, but someone who passed a priest that they could identtifu by dress in another part of the store or park, they can run back to get him.

But I am curious if you feel similarly about wedding rings?
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If the world was perfect we wouldn’t need wedding rings - chastity would prevail:p .

From a Catholic views, surely part of the problem is that many other Christian ministers where dog collars, so you could have the wrong priest called to you. I know a chaplain at our local hospital, who is regularly directed to patients who have asked to see a CofE priest not a catholic one. (i’m playing devil’s advocate at the moment:D )

RCA:)
 
In any event, wearing the collar is a way of showing the flag for the Church. During the height of the publicity over the sex-abuse crisis a couple of years ago, some priests were saying that they were ashamed to wear the collar in public. Shame on them. As Paul tells Timothy, “We have been given the spirit not of timidity, but the spirit of power and love and self-control.”

Cited from:
firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=872

by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
 
RCA said:
If the world was perfect we wouldn’t need wedding rings - chastity would prevail:p .

From a Catholic views, surely part of the problem is that many other Christian ministers where dog collars, so you could have the wrong priest called to you. I know a chaplain at our local hospital, who is regularly directed to patients who have asked to see a CofE priest not a catholic one. (i’m playing devil’s advocate at the moment:D )

RCA:)
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Yea… You are playing Devil’s Advocate, and the willing contrarian. I suppose this perfect storm could happen… but come on, how frequently do you see Catholic priests wearing the dog collar? (I grant, I did in seminary!) How often do same get confused for Episcopalians?
 
dixieagle said:
That sounds pretty much like doing the work of Christ to me:)
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Without any association to Christ, the work of Christ is just good works without the gospel. We might as well be atheists doing good works if not done in the name of Christ with a witness to God.

Without a witness to God our good works just pretty much make us look good, if we attribute all our good works to God then they are Christlike. This is the importance of the distinctive dress, the separation of ourselves and the action and the focus on it being for God.

The habit makes the Priest\Nun anonymous and witnesses the action as a Catholic Christian action and not just a good work.

We should feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick but as witnesses to Christ and not just good things to do.

It just happens that “medieval peasants” are distinctive dress which identifies their association\fidelity with the Church and Gospel brought to us from God.

God Bless
Scylla
 
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