Is it bad manners to wear hats to church?

[Tabby]

I recently visited a different parish than my usual parish in my diocese. While browsing the parish’s web site later, I was surprised to see included in a notice about etiquette in the sanctuary that hats should not be worn. There was no distinction between men and women, just a blanket request to everyone that they not wear “hats” (veils or other headcoverings were not mentioned). Can you shed some light on this?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

It is possible that the notice was poorly worded. As far as etiquette is concerned, it is bad manners for laymen to wear hats in a church (and most other buildings for that matter), but laywomen may wear hats in a church if they wish (but they are not required to do so). If there was an intention to state that all hats by everyone were “bad manners,” the only explanation I can think of to explain why women’s hats were included is that some women’s hats might block the view of the altar by those people sitting behind a woman wearing that type of hat. There are many styles of hats available for women that do not block others’ view, and it would indeed be considerate to choose such a hat when attending a church service. But it is simply inaccurate for a church to say that it is “bad manners” for any layperson, man or woman, to wear a hat in the sanctuary.