No more monsignors?

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4givemeasinner

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Not sure if this is the right place for this but.
apparently the Pope is no longer naming distinguished priests with the honorary title of “Monsignor”, pending advice from his Cardinal reform committee?

thetablet.co.uk/latest-news/5651

Responses?

:highprayer:
 
I believe it is a good idea for the simple reason that a person is less likely to want to bother a Monsignor than just a parish priest. In a way it puts them on a pedestal of honor and less approachable. That may or may not be true depending on how the cleric behaves.

“Hey Father”, is easier than “Hey Monsignor”. Hey, but what do I know.
 
I don’t see how halting the practice for a few months hurts anything.
 
The bishop of our diocese decided over a decade ago that he would not name monsignors.

I’m honestly not sure as to what the reasoning was, I never really looked into it. But monsignors are a rare thing for me.
 
Our pastor is a monsignor.

We call him “Father (nickname).” Prior to being named monsignor? We called him “Father (nickname).” 🤷

When I introduce him, formally, with Monsigner (last name) he responds with, “Please call me Father (nickname).”

Obviously the Pope can decide to not name priests monsignor. But I would like to heard his reasoning.
 
These titles go back to a time when people actually respected authority 🤷 A priest was a priest, and sometimes you had an archpriest overseeing many…a monsignor was a priest who other priests held in particular respect…obedience was involved, and so forth. The clothing, too, albeit still very simple, had some variations…

Nowadays things have changed a bit.

People are still respectful, but that sort of reverence is not very common.

The last time I kneeled and kissed a bishop’s ring, he was a bit surprised…and to recall that not too long ago it was considered proper to kiss even a priest’s hand (a practice still present in parts of the Orthodox Church as far as I know).

That being said…this is clergy business 😃 It really does not concern us. How will we give due reverence to the title of Monsignor if we struggle to give due reverence to the title of Father? I speak for myself, but it is a problem of this age we live in. Things were very different in the previous generation. At least, I am told :o
 
R_C said:
Th

The last time I kneeled and kissed a bishop’s ring, he was a bit surprised…and to recall that not too long ago it was considered proper to kiss even a priest’s hand (a practice still present in parts of the Orthodox Church as far as I know).

d :o
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Still practiced in the Philippines…a super majority catholic country…🙂
 
So, we should call Monsignor Guido Marini, Father Guido or Father Marini? 🙂
 
maryjk said:
Our pastor is a monsignor.

We call him “Father (nickname).” Prior to being named monsignor? We called him “Father (nickname).” 🤷

When I introduce him, formally, with Monsigner (last name) he responds with, “Please call me Father (nickname).”

Obviously the Pope can decide to not name priests monsignor. But I would like to heard his reasoning.
Click to expand...
I did not know, until recently, that my pastor was a monsignor; he prefers to be called Father Mark. :cool:
 
4givemeasinner said:
apparently the Pope is no longer naming distinguished priests with the honorary title of “Monsignor”, pending advice from his Cardinal reform committee?
Click to expand...
Monsignor is an earthly title given for earthly reasons. They aren’t necessarily holier than other priests or better pastors. They just happened to be discovered by the right people at the right time. The monsignors I’ve known wanted neither the distinction nor the responsibility which gave them that distinction, so they’d more likely say they were discovered by the wrong people at the wrong time.

Monsignors usually are chancery officials, cathedral rectors, seminary rectors, and founding pastors of churches. There are plenty of holy priests who do not do those things. I guess the holy father feels that awarding distinguished, chivalric titles (monsignor means “my lord”) is not what the Church needs at this point. It would make sense, given the pope’s style and his recent comments about career Catholics and what not.
 
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