How do you want YOUR parish priest to dress?

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Aureole said:
Aww, the cassocks are down! Come on all you cassock lovers, make your voices heard!
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When I am ordained in someday, will wear the cassock. The cassock is the way to go, in my mind. I realize each priest is individual and cirumstances are always different. But I think priests should atleast wear a cassock more often than they do today. When working in ministry they should atleast wear their Roman Collar, but casual clothes can be ok, say like at a family barbecue, a part, baseball game (?) etc. Anyway, cassocks all the way!
 
I love cassocks and intend to at least wear one with some measure of regularity in my future because I think they are nifty and can be a good way to remain simple if used right. But at the same time, I would not look down on another for not using one nor would i pressure others to use it.
 
I think priests should always look like priests. If they’re out in public, they should be identifiable as priests to everyone who looks at them. A black suit with roman collar is sufficient, and they can also move freely about in society without looking unapproachable. Identifiable, but not alienating. Obviously, I would make an exception for a priest who lives somewhere where that could get him killed. And, I don’t see why they can’t wear casual clothes for hiking or sports.
 
Another note: our parish priest in England was a fantastic priest. He’d converted to Christianity from Zoroastrianism as an adult and was really, really on fire with love for God and his vocation. I was so glad to meet him and get to know him.

So, I always felt a bit funny because I didn’t like how he dressed outside of Mass. He wore normal, casual clothes that in no way identified him as a priest. Not only did he dress that way while out and about, he’d dress that way in Church if he wasn’t celebrating Mass! Like, if it was a Mass being said by another priest, I’d often see him mingling around in the back of the sanctuary before or after Mass, dressed in his regular clothes. I think he sometimes heard confessions then - and, of course, he put the, um, I forget what it’s called, over his shoulders to do so. But, it bothered me a little.

NO WAY would I want to have seen his feelings hurt by somebody telling them what they thought. He was an excellent priest and God knows, we need more of them and we ought to cherish and encourage the ones we have!
 
Wouldn’t recommend what today?
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Meaning, that as a priest in America, I wouldn’t just roll out of bed and throw on the same clothes I’ve worn for the past month. That might have been fine in the Middle Ages, but it is not the way to do things today.
It’s that sort of what could be called shallowness expressed in many posts in this thread and in others that bugs me - that how a person looks and how they “toe the line” matters most - that a Christian be respectable, and wellgroomed, and not rock the boat. That a person would be happy with their priest if he wore clericals and less than happy if he didn’t.
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How one looks (dress and hygene) often reflects deeper concepts of how they view themselves and others and if you mean by “towing the line” following Canon Law-then these are important subjects.
Has there been a poll “How do you want to serve your parish priest?” or “how do you help your priest to live out his vocation?” If not, why not, and wouldn’t that be altogether more edifying than talking about how we want our parish priest (who, is presumably, an adult and can and should decide for himself , taking into account the direction of his bishop - not his parishioners) to dress?
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Then again, as I said before, I’m not saying there’s no place for a thread like this, just that it makes me wonder.
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Well, this makes me wonder too. Dost thou protest too much? Are we not able to throw some opinions around and discuss matters that were important enough to be regulated by Canon Law?
Who are all these people doing the criticising? Don’t they have anything better to do?!
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Do you have any experience of parish life? Yes, they should be doing something more useful, but such is life.
Maybe. So the question is, “what would be the best thing to do in the case of our priest ceasing to wear his clericals?” It seems like a lot of people who use these forums would answer, “The best thing to do is to get on catholic.com and start a thread about how lax and unorthodox my priest/bishop/diocese is” instead of inviting your priest out for a coffee or something and letting him know that you appreciate him, and want him to be living out his call as best he can, and that you’ll love him as he is trying to love his flock. Yeah?
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It does not seem to me that we only complain about things and don’t ever do anything in the real world (or at least I assume that). However, a priest should not look to his parishoners for affirmation. It may come, it may not. His vocation is his responsibility-many graces can be gained by the cleric who puts up with all sorts of nonsense by his parishoners. None is gained by the guy that just throws up his hands.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
I really don’t care how priest dress.

It’s how they live their live’s that is important.
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Totally agree. I can think of 3 priests who I think highly of. One, I rarely saw in clerics, and it didn’t bother me. It made him more of a “regular” person. When I went back to confession after being gone for several years, it was he who I sought out. He had a sweater on. But it didn’t make the sacrament any less wonderful. His Masses are reverent and holy. His homilies are excellent.

My current pastor is usually in clerics - I think I’ve seen him in “regular clothes” once, and that was probably on his day off. He usually wears black pants, but often a lighter colored shirt with a roman collar. He says he likes that his life comes with a “uniform”. That he doesn’t have that many brain cells awake in the morning (to choose what to wear). He is also wonderful.

There is another priest at a parish that we sometimes visit. I’ve seen him many times in a cassock. And I sometimes wonder - does he wear pants under that? Shorts? He is an excellent priest who speaks the truth.

What they wear doesn’t really matter. It’s what they do and how they live.
 
Alright I saw both our pastor and one of our deacons wearing suitable
dress casual (collared shirt and dress pants yesterday at Pizza Hut). I saw no problem with it. (Of course, I’ve seen them long enough that I know they are clergy.)
 
i would prefer our clergy to wear what is practical for the task in hand, if they are doing manual labour to help in the community or do the garden then casual dress is fine, if they are representing the church and addressing our spiritual needs then the roman collar / cassock, their choice they have got to wear it not us
 
The class of “reasonable exceptions” for not wearing clerical garb, while I would say it is most certainly ingrained in most modern Catholic minds, makes me wonder about its history and development. Nowadays we seem to consider a very wide array of activities too strenuous or dirty for clericals; off the top of my head I’ve heard sports, biking, jogging, yard work, house work, and car repair. There are probably more.

From that list, however, I think back to my college roomate’s yearly editions of the “Nuns Having Fun” calendar, which had pictures of nuns from I would guess about the 1950s participating in all sorts of activities: bowling, skeet shooting, sailing, bumper cars, etc. - all in full habit. I then thought of contemporary pictures of FSSP priests and seminarians running their summer camp, which includes hiking and sports, in cassocks. In the case of religious the arguments seems stronger that they shouldn’t put aside their habit, but knowing that priests even today are willing to keept their cassocks on for more physical activity makes me curious as to what might historically have been considered reasonable exceptions to the mandate for clericals and, if these were historically different, when the standards began to shift.

I think the bike riding mentioned above is a great example of what I would consider a non-issue turned into an exception. As to riding 20+ miles, well yes riding around in a black suit might pose a health risk. But as for looking silly, who cares? For riding a bike to the store or a leisurely bike through the neighborhood clerical garb poses no real difficulty, it’s just slightly less comfortable, which I think traditional symbolism would find quite fitting.
 
From the EWTN piece, does anyone else see tension in these two quotations?

It goes without saying that there are reasonable and legitimate
exceptions to this rule, such as during sports and recreation, during one’s vacation (in general), while at home with family or in one’s private quarters in the rectory.

AND
  1. The Roman collar is also a reminder to the priest that he is
    "never not a priest. "With so much confusion prevalent today, the
    Roman collar can help the priest avoid internal doubt as to who he is. Two wardrobes can easily lead-and often does-to two lifestyles, or even two personalities. (all emphases mine)
    ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/RMCOLLAR.TXT
 
I think the “reasonable exceptions” became one of those allowances that evolved into a de facto norm. A friend of mine says that the priests in the area of Mexico he’s from still do all their work in a cassock. They have their “Sunday” cassocks and their “work” cassocks.

When you give many people an inch, they take a mile. Soon, practically everything is an “exception” for not wearing clericals. Its not all running marathons or working out, now its walking two blocks to the store or hanging a picture. 😉 I think when you get to that point, it is just trying to justify not wearing clericals while not coming straight out and saying that clerics are too “rigid” or a “barrier between me and the people” type of stuff.

The prudent man will know what is best to do, and I trust his judgement on the matter. I just had such a discussion with my chaplain (who usually wears a cassock) and it made a lot of sense.
 
Andreas_Hofer said:
I think the bike riding mentioned above is a great example of what I would consider a non-issue turned into an exception. As to riding 20+ miles, well yes riding around in a black suit might pose a health risk. But as for looking silly, who cares? For riding a bike to the store or a leisurely bike through the neighborhood clerical garb poses no real difficulty, it’s just slightly less comfortable, which I think traditional symbolism would find quite fitting.
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In my seminary, we are required to wear a black clerical shirt and black slacks to Mass, morning classes, and formal events, but we cannot wear them off campus unless one is a deacon. I find the clerics comfortable to where I sometimes forget I have them on, and one time I only remembered that I was still wearing my collar after I noticed that the bank teller was staring at it!

…“und von der Hand die Binde nimmt ihm der Korporal, Andreas Hofer betet allhier zum letztenmal …” I like that song, even though it is about his execution. The Swiss side of me sympathizes, plus I just like Tirol.
 
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