Does the Pope ever have "dress-down" days?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Madaglan
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Madaglan

Guest
Every time I see Pope John Paul II on TV he is wearing resplendent religious garments. He is always sporting a long green or white suplice, and he always complements his appearance with that enormous hat of his.

However, I cannot picture in my mind what John Paul would look like in anything but his religious gear. One of the priests I know near me oftentimes dresses down some when with just friends or students. He won’t overly dress down, but if you saw him in public, you would not recognize him as a priest. He almost blends in with lay people.

So, does the pope ever put on some khaki shorts and a white tank top? Does he ever wear tie-dye tee shirts? white socks? speedos? cowboy hats? Does he (or did he ever) go on trips in cognito, dressed as a Japanese tourist? Has he ever, later at night, snuck out of the Vatican late to play poker at a Roman pub? 😃
 
I doubt that he has snuck out of the Vatican. But until his fall and subsequent surgery several years back, he sometimes went skiing and also enjoyed hiking in the mountains. All the images I’ve seen of those trips has him attired in a simple white cassock.
 
the Pope dresses down to much,well for a Pope. I haven’t ever seen him in full Papal vestements in my life and no one else for that matter. Where is the tiara and sedia gestatoria?
 
Well, he’s a humble man, and at I’m proud of him I have seen pictures of past popes being carried around like a roman emperor and wearing clothes so elaborate… but John Paul is a down to earth man, Jesus wouldn’t have wanted to be carried around wearing clothes that cost more than a mercedes benz. The pope is humble indeed.
 
40.png
katolik:
the Pope dresses down to much,well for a Pope. I haven’t ever seen him in full Papal vestements in my life and no one else for that matter. Where is the tiara and sedia gestatoria?
Click to expand...
Pope John Paul II does not have a tiara. He did not want one. I don’t think John Paul I had one either.
 
Yeah, costs $1… like dress down days at catholic school>> just kidding
 
40.png
pazdziernik:
Pope John Paul II does not have a tiara. He did not want one. I don’t think John Paul I had one either.
Click to expand...
Paul VI dumped the triple tiara (it’s on display in the US National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception but he never wore it) and refused to ride around in that sedan chair carried by the Swiss Guard. But he (and the current pope) retained the red velvet (?) shoes :bounce: .
 
40.png
pazdziernik:
Are Fridays “casual days” at the Vatican?
Click to expand...
sure, white golf shirt, white dockers, white adidas, white sox. still wears the little cap thing. He used to go skiing, hiking etc. even after he became pope so I guess he wore the appropriate gear. my kids have a book called We’re on a Mission from God which has a picture of him as a younger priest in what looks like a trenchcoat, sunglasses and bad hat.

our parish school has spirit day when you can wear anything with the school colors, or shirt of your favorite sports team, you pay a dollar for the privilege it goes to the missions or something. Now I think Spirit Day would be a great idea for the Vatican. Everybody would wear red.
 
40.png
mgy100:
Well, he’s a humble man, and at I’m proud of him I have seen pictures of past popes being carried around like a roman emperor and wearing clothes so elaborate… but John Paul is a down to earth man.
Click to expand...
This sure seems like a backhanded slap at previous Popes which I think is very unwarranted. Sure, the Holy Father is probably a very humble man. So were previous Popes. There was a different emphasis before Vatican II (news flash). So much has changed. After the council, everything was dressed down from the liturgy, to ceremony, to architecture to ecclesiastical clothing. The emphasis was and is on ecumenism, for better or worse.
 
i agree with mgy100. The Pope is a man who emulates humility, what would the difference make if he did dress down or he didn’t. We don’t have to see Our Holy Father in shorts and a tropical t-shirt to see that he is just as human as all of us are. The Pope goes to confession, he makes mistakes, (not when speaking on morality,doctirne and theology)
 
40.png
katolik:
the Pope dresses down to much,well for a Pope. I haven’t ever seen him in full Papal vestements in my life and no one else for that matter. Where is the tiara and sedia gestatoria?
Click to expand...
Perhaps he wants to mirror the simplicity with which his Master lived His earthly Life.
 
Brian don’t pubically judge me, i was merely stating that John Paul is a humble man, for goodness sake. I once read a long time ago that the people close to him have got him new threads because he would just wear the same ones and get them patched up. Read the biography and other books on him, I can’t quote off the top of my head but he is a remarkable man (as are all the other popes, hence, therefore, that is why they were popes). I bet it was a sight to see the pope all dressed up real fancy and toted around. John Paul II has been the pope most of my life. The image of him is THE image of the pope that is burned in my mind. So, no unwarranted backslaps or what nots, just can’t put the picture of a full dressed pope in my mind and I wasn’t backslapping.
 
Yeah mgy, you dissin’ all the other Popes??? Huh? Wanna fight? :mad: Ya better not be dissin’ any Popes now, hear?! Or I’m gonna have ta have a little talk wit ya, see? 'Cause me and my family, we don’t stand for any of that, capish? :cool:
 
40.png
mgy100:
Brian don’t pubically judge me
Click to expand...
First of all, misspellings can be humorous at times. 🙂 Secondly, I did not pubLically judge you. I reacted to something you wrote. Big difference. Either way, please accept my apology for coming across too harshly.

The point I wanted to make was that previous popes who were “carried around like a roman emperor and wearing clothes so elaborate…” were still humble men, by and large, I’m sure. And even though the Holy Father is undoubtedly a humble man, more humble attire among prelates began well before his pontificate. Times change, fashions change. How many suits and ties, veils and dresses do you see at Mass on Sundays? Not as many as there used to be. Here news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3582288.stm is an interesting secular article on ecclesiastical dress.

An excerpt: *"At one time, not so long ago, bishops would dress in long robes, a train of shimmering purple ribbed silk drifting after them. **There were plenty of tassels and pom-poms, highly elaborate vestments. **But then came Vatican II - the great ecclesiastical council in the 1960s - which decided the Church should try to move closer to the people and more into the modern age. **The council was something of a self-inflicted revolution. For instance, out went - for the most part - the Latin Mass. *Many of the old rituals were done away with. New, more simple, ceremonial was called for and orders were handed down from the Vatican that the pomp associated with the more elaborate vestments and costumes should go."
 
Dear Brian,
Are you always so condescending towards others? Is that what you teach your kids, to publicly crititsise others for their grammar or spelling? Your smirky comment is highly unbecoming and very uncharitable.
 
darn it I was typing too fast!! Thanks for the spelling corrextiun!! The first thing that was weird in college was having other people read your rough drafts and picking apart what you were writing. In the end papers were more fluent and precise. Also spelling was better. I type faster than a secretary and sometimes don’t notice the spelling on internet forums.
 
Er, mgy!
I see you haven’t learned your lesson, young man! :ehh: :tsktsk: I notice quite an obvious spelling error in your post! :eek: Uhoh, I see a typo in my post!!! :bigyikes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top