Is it acceptable to wear a hat during Mass?

[Generic_Man]

I got a really bad haircut and I’ve been wearing a snowcap over it. Can I wear any sort of hat during Mass? Would it be disrespectful?

 

[paulcosmith]

Generic Man, only if you’re actually a woman.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I got a really bad haircut and I’ve been wearing a snowcap over it. Can I wear any sort of hat during Mass? Would it be disrespectful?

No, you can’t and yes, it would.

Only if the Bishop gave you a haircut in church–that is, either the clerical or monastic tonsure–can you wear a hat therein.

Offer it up.

 

[Martini]

I remember a man with a bandaged head (post surgery) who wore a ski cap during Mass. One would have had to have been a real jerk to suggest he remove it.

 

[LatinCatholic]

So Far as I know, the Revised code of Canon Law says nothing about a man not being able to cover his head, (If I’m wrong about this, please give the canon that says otherwise, because this is something I really want to know) But it’s generally considered irreverent amoung the people, and if your parish is like mine then women you don’t even know are going to rip your hat off of your head without saying a word.

 

[Mary1973]

I was taught that only men in uniform wear a hat inside a church. The Swiss guards have their helmets on in church.

I was surprised last year when Fr. Groeschel said it was okay for men to keep their heads covered. He said people in Europe do it because the churches are not heated. I had never heard that.

So, why don’t you just shave your head?

 

[scylla]

I remember a man with a bandaged head (post surgery) who wore a ski cap during Mass. One would have had to have been a real jerk to suggest he remove it.

I agree, and every Catholic would affirm that necessity or impediments are valid reasons to do or not do what is good.

So in the same way, if I am in a wheelchair no Catholic would fault me for not being able to stand when the Priest says, “please rise for our profession of faith”.

A bad haircut is not really a big deal, unless someone burnt anti-christian symbols into his head or something.

A man shouldn’t wear a hat in Church as it is disrespectful to God, just like it is disrespectful and wrong for me to try and take the Priest’s spot on the Altar. It is part of Catholic understanding that in general, men take off their hats in Church.

God Bless
Scylla

 

[ljprevo]

Why not get a toupe?

 

[dessert]

I think you could wear a hat to Church but take it off when you get there. We have clips in an old Church that was for hats at every pew almost every man wore one to Church, this one is almost 2 hundred years old.

I have been thinking of wearing a hat and I’m a woman. But no other women do wear hats at the catholic Church but at non- C they do.

You know women wear wigs alot and if they have thin hair or had cancer treatments they wear scarfs but even some women wear carfs anyways.

Many leave their coats on and I think this is sort of rude, should be glad they have a coat rack have been in one that didn’t have any place to put a coat rack or it was taken out.

My FIL went to Church(diff denomination) with his new Stetson Hat he got for Christmas last year, and left it at the rack and it walked away. The person never returned it, His grandson in law (who bought the original) bought him a new one to replace it and he keeps it next to him always.

D.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

I got a really bad haircut and I’ve been wearing a snowcap over it. Can I wear any sort of hat during Mass? Would it be disrespectful?

Wear it to Mass, and then just blame the bad do on the cap. No one cares.

 

[dessert]

I was taught that only men in uniform wear a hat inside a church. The Swiss guards have their helmets on in church.

I was surprised last year when Fr. Groeschel said it was okay for men to keep their heads covered. He said people in Europe do it because the churches are not heated. I had never heard that.

So, why don’t you just shave your head?

We have some Churches including ours not heated very well because our priest is very hot blooded and he keeps adjusting the stat so people told him to leave it alone and they fixed it so it be on automatic but this is funny the other day at daily mass,
this is so funny, it was cloudy and the sun kept going in and out and the lights were automaticcally coming on and going off. We have lots of windows and so they would go dim and then get brighter and very bright and then suddenly it got real cloudy and they went off click right away, Father John said see I’m not even near the lights, see my hands I’m right here and I didn’t do it.
And then presto they came on again. It was so distracting to the mass as I was trying to read my magnificat along with the mass, but no one bothered Father about the lights and the temp of the heat agaain after that.
Isn’t God wonderful and even funny because no one was near the lights
D.

 

[LatinCatholic]

It is part of Catholic understanding that in general, men take off their hats in Church.

Was it not also part of Catholic understanding that Women were to wear Veils or some form of headcovering?
Now, from my understanding, the teaching that men men should uncover their heads and women cover them when in prayer comes from 1 corinthians 11. however, having a woman cover her head during mass is no longer necessary, so should not the same apply to a man, that it is not required for him to have his head uncovered?

Keep in Mind, I could not allow myself to wear a hat in Church (and I certainly am one to wander about in a fedora), I could just never understand Catholic understanding on this matter, because it seems contradictory to itself (perhaps because Church teaching and human preference are intermixed in this subject?). I would very much like to be enlightened on this matter if anyone wishes to do so.

 

[Andruschak]

I was taught that only men in uniform wear a hat inside a church. The Swiss guards have their helmets on in church.

I was surprised last year when Fr. Groeschel said it was okay for men to keep their heads covered. He said people in Europe do it because the churches are not heated. I had never heard that.

So, why don’t you just shave your head?

Don’t have to. I have wavy hair. It’s waving goodby

 

[Martini]

I agree, and every Catholic would affirm that necessity or impediments are valid reasons to do or not do what is good.

So in the same way, if I am in a wheelchair no Catholic would fault me for not being able to stand when the Priest says, “please rise for our profession of faith”.

A bad haircut is not really a big deal, unless someone burnt anti-christian symbols into his head or something.

A man shouldn’t wear a hat in Church as it is disrespectful to God, just like it is disrespectful and wrong for me to try and take the Priest’s spot on the Altar. It is part of Catholic understanding that in general, men take off their hats in Church.

God Bless
Scylla

No way – not unless you knew the man and what he was going through. Someone just said above *“if your parish is like mine then women you don’t even know are going to rip your hat off of your head without saying a word” *in what appeared to be a rather proud tone. That’s very sad – crude actually

If I had a bandaged head and covered/protected it with a beenie and someone tried that, they might find themselves taking an unplanned nap – and I would think quite a few people feel that way.

No we are not Jews – males are not required to cover their heads inside the synogogue. At the same time if it was 30F inside of an ancient stone church in winter Poland, I doubt seriously that one should (or would) be bothered with any male wearing a hat for warmth.

BTW, fourth degree Knights of Columbus and others wear hats inside churches as part of their uniforms as others have noted. If it was an insult to God, it wouldn’t happen.

 

[Karl_M]

Wearing a hat in church is considered disrespectful to God because it’s his house, the same way wearing a hat inside my aunt’s house would be considered an insult to her.

The comment that the K of C wearing their official hats in the church means that it isn’t disrespectful is a misguided comment, it’s sort of like saying a fireman wearing his fireman’s hat in a person’s home is disrespectful (OK, that’s not a perfect analgoy-but I think you get the point).

Church-related uniforms are an exception. Also, it is acceptable for women to wear head coverings in church-although “hat” is a bit excessive.

Anyway, take the hat off in church. Your hair will be OK in a week or two anyway, so they’ll see you with bad hair once or twice.

 

[scylla]

No way – not unless you knew the man and what he was going through. Someone just said above *“if your parish is like mine then women you don’t even know are going to rip your hat off of your head without saying a word” *in what appeared to be a rather proud tone. That’s very sad – crude actually
Now you are taking one exception to the understanding, taking another comment by a poster that wasn’t me and using that to try and make a point?
So what if some Catholic women might commit a faux paux by rightly asserting respect for God. This says nothing about Catholic understanding of respect for God, it just shows that people can make mistakes
If I had a bandaged head and covered/protected it with a beenie and someone tried that, they might find themselves taking an unplanned nap – and I would think quite a few people feel that way.
If someone mistakenly corrected me for something I couldn’t help I would forgive them after I recovered my composure. That is the right thing to do, though I understand we all could lose our temper at times.

No we are not Jews – males are not required to cover their heads inside the synogogue. At the same time if it was 30F inside of an ancient stone church in winter Poland, I doubt seriously that one should (or would) be bothered with any male wearing a hat for warmth.
**Yes it if was 30F it would be acceptable to wear headcoverings in Church. We are talking about normal circumstances. If the Church had no roof and it was raining it would be acceptable for me to us an umbrella and maybe a plastic trash bag on my head
**
BTW, fourth degree Knights of Columbus and others wear hats inside churches as part of their uniforms as others have noted. If it was an insult to God, it wouldn’t happen.

The other poster answered this quite clearly, may God bless you and feel free to learn more about Catholic respect and belief.

God Bless
Scylla

Women are not required to wear headcoverings but they should take heed of Paul’s recommendation and wear them because of the Angels. They are free not to wear them without anyone looking down on them, it is a good and holy thing to do it though as it is a recognition for the presence of the Angels and God.
That is another thread though.

 

[Martini]

Wearing a hat in church is considered disrespectful to God because it’s his house, the same way wearing a hat inside my aunt’s house would be considered an insult to her.

The comment that the K of C wearing their official hats in the church means that it isn’t disrespectful is a misguided comment, it’s sort of like saying a fireman wearing his fireman’s hat in a person’s home is disrespectful (OK, that’s not a perfect analgoy-but I think you get the point).

Church-related uniforms are an exception. Also, it is acceptable for women to wear head coverings in church-although “hat” is a bit excessive.

Anyway, take the hat off in church. Your hair will be OK in a week or two anyway, so they’ll see you with bad hair once or twice.

Your analogies are not accurate. Your aunt isn’t God and a KofC chapeau is not a protective piece of gear.

It is good manners to remove our hats, but if someone is going to suffer for removing it then it makes little sense to do so.

 

[lak611]

This website says the following:

Indoors, a man should always remove his hat, (particularly in a home, church, courtroom or restaurant) except:
(1) in some public buildings or public places such as railroad stations or post offices;
(2) in the main parlor area of a saloon or general store;
(3) or while seated at the “lunch counter” of a diner or cafe;
(4) in entrance halls and corridors of office buildings, or hotels;
(5) in elevators of public or office buildings, unless a woman is present;
(6) if carrying packages, parcels or bags and both hands are occupied upon entry.
(7) If the man is an actor or performer and the hat is being worn as a part of a costume or performance.

The Rules for Women…
By and large, women are generally exempt from all of the preceeding rules, particulalrly if their hat is fastened (pinned or clipped) to their hair and difficult to remove easily. Therefore, women are and were allowed to wear a hat in a church, a courtroom or at a funeral… prettty much anywhere a man would not wear a hat, even today. Naturally, if a woman is dressed in men’s style clothing (jeans, slacks, etc…) and is wearing a man’s style hat or cap, it would be considered good manners for them to remove their hat for the National Anthem or a passing funeral procession, but they are basically exempt from all of the other rules and have the option of removing their hat indoors.

When I went to a country concert and wore a Stetson cowboy hat with Wrangler jeans and Nocona boots, I took the hat off for the National Anthem, since it was a hat that could be worn by a man or a woman.

 

[Martini]

Now you are taking one exception to the understanding, taking another comment by a poster that wasn’t me and using that to try and make a point?

Her comment was inaccurate. No one would have automatically known the guy’s head was bandaged under his beenie.

So what if some Catholic women might commit a faux paux by rightly asserting respect for God. This says nothing about Catholic understanding of respect for God, it just shows that people can make mistakes

You’re kidding, right? That “faux paux” (“ripping” the hat off his head) could well inflict pain to the victim – physical and emotional. Acting in such a crude manner would certainly make me wonder about the spritual life and the emotional stability of the person doing the “ripping”

If someone mistakenly corrected me for something I couldn’t help I would forgive them after I recovered my composure. That is the right thing to do, though I understand we all could lose our temper at times.

If you “couldn’t help” “ripping” a beenie off of someone’s head then you need some assistance before you go into a situation like that again.

Yes it if was 30F it would be acceptable to wear headcoverings in Church. We are talking about normal circumstances.

Now you are flip-flopping No conditions were set. I merely showed one situation where a hat could be worn without a problem – yet I am sure some here would still say it’s a problem.

If the Church had no roof and it was raining it would be acceptable for me to us an umbrella and maybe a plastic trash bag on my head

Pile-on the spin and let’s see if we can misdirect the entire discussion, huh?

The other poster answered this quite clearly, may God bless you and feel free to learn more about Catholic respect and belief.

Some of your comments are most revealing – in a rather negative manner.

Women are not required to wear headcoverings but they should take heed of Paul’s recommendation and wear them because of the Angels. They are free not to wear them without anyone looking down on them, it is a good and holy thing to do it though as it is a recognition for the presence of the Angels and God.
That is another thread though.

God Bless
Scylla

So you say. Yeah, and Catholic men men should wear Tefillen and Tallit to Mass, right?

 

[pnewton]

Nothing illicit or wrong about wearing a hat. It is strictly a cultural issue. Jewish men must keep their heads covered and an uncovered head is considered disrespectful. In our current society it would be rude to keep a hat on, but not wrong.