Outside of Mass: can a priest wear pin or jewelry?

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I was thinking if a priest had pierced ears, a family heirloom ring, or maybe even one of those pink ribbon pins for breast cancer awareness, would he be allowed to wear any of that stuff outside of Mass with his cassock or collared shirt?

Obviously during the Mass, the vestments should be the only thing the priest wears since it’s his “work clothes”, but outside of that context, could he “loosen up”, so to speak?

My coworker had to remove his earrings during the workday…and I was wondering if something like that applied to the clergy since it’s their vocation as opposed to a job.
 
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It’s probably up to what their order or bishop (in the case of diocesan priests) set as the standard. Most religious orders involve a vow of poverty that would preclude the wearing of jewelry (other than a watch). I have seen diocesan priest with what look like college rings, but I don’t recall any priest wearing any kind of awareness pins.
 
My bishop typically wears shirts with French cuffs and cufflinks – Does that count?
 
Episcopalian said:
I was thinking if a priest had pierced ears, a family heirloom ring, or maybe even one of those pink ribbon pins for breast cancer awareness, would he be allowed to wear any of that stuff outside of Mass with his cassock or collared shirt?

Obviously during the Mass, the vestments should be the only thing the priest wears since it’s his “work clothes”, but outside of that context, could he “loosen up”, so to speak?

My coworker had to remove his earrings during the workday…and I was wondering if something like that applied to the clergy since it’s their vocation as opposed to a job.
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I would think, for example, if a priest had some jewellery that was a treasured gift from a family member, there would.be no problem.

If.they were spending a lot of their own money on flashy bling, not so good.
 
I think it might just depend on his fashion taste. I knew a priest in the 90’s who had a Mickey Mouse watch that I thought was so cool.
 
OKComputer said:
I think it might just depend on his fashion taste. I knew a priest in the 90’s who had a Mickey Mouse watch that I thought was so cool.
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Sure, but you may think differently if it were a $10,000 diamond encrusted gold Rolex for example.
 
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Episcopalian said:
I was thinking if a priest had pierced ears, a family heirloom ring, or maybe even one of those pink ribbon pins for breast cancer awareness, would he be allowed to wear any of that stuff outside of Mass with his cassock or collared shirt?
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You mean a family heirloom ring like the one on my finger as I type this? 😛

Nothing prevents a priest from wearing (simple) jewelry or (appropriate) awareness ribbons. Members of religious orders can certainly wear the latter (their personal allowance isn’t so stingy as to preclude small donations) and even jewelry (within reason) - the vow of poverty is more about common ownership rather than total exclusion of all personal possessions.
 
Father, could you envision an ordinary or major superior who may prohibit that sort of thing, though? Would that be unreasonable?

My pastor wears a “wedding band” according to his celibate state, and a single pin on his clerical shirt which identifies him as a lifetime member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. I am pleased to also claim lifetime Pioneer membership.

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Remember the film Doubt starring Merryl Streep? The priest with the trendy fingernails?
 
Anesti33 said:
Father, could you envision an ordinary or major superior who may prohibit that sort of thing, though? Would that be unreasonable?
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I could with an order - some of them tend to be stricter when it comes to dress codes and standardisation (diocesan priesthood tends to accommodate all sort of rif raff 😛 ) but it’d be more of an order wide thing rather than something determined by a particular provincial.
 
One of my parish priests wore a silver ring. He made it. Making jewelry was one of his hobbies and he made rings mostly. He said it was in memory of his parents.
 
I must say I’ve never encountered a priest with earring(s) but I’m not yet 80.

🍿 🥤 Waiting now for a flood of anecdotes and hopefully some photos 😇
 
dochawk said:
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LilyM:
Sure, but you may think differently if it were a $10,000 diamond encrusted gold Rolex for example.
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Oh, that can be solved:
Russia's Patriarch Kirill in furore over luxury watch - BBC News

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🤣 :crazy_face: 😱
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Aye carumba! What genius decided to doctor the photo? Made the whole.thing much worse.
 
felsguy said:
I must say I’ve never encountered a priest with earring(s) but I’m not yet 80.
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Priests Allowed to Wear Earrings?!?! Liturgy and Sacraments
Today I was privileged to witness the election of officers for the Secular Franciscan Order fraternity I am a candidate to join, and it was a moving experience. However, I was annoyed and rather disgusted to notice that the (thank God visiting) Franciscan friar who served as the official witness of the election had a diamond and gold pierced earring stud in his left ear. He was wearing a traditional Franciscan habit as were the other friars, which made the earring all the more glaring. Aside …
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https://www.catholicforum.com/forums/showthread.php?22290-earrings-on-priest
 
LilyM said:
Aye carumba! What genius decided to doctor the photo? Made the whole.thing much worse.
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I presume it was a Soviet hangover. They did that so often that it was barely newsworthy. (now, including a now disgraced person that was there, as opposed memory-holing him from the photograph, would have been newsworthy).

My favorite was editing an escape tower in to a photo after the Apollo accident, explaining that because they had such safety features, cosmonauts would have survived. (at a point in time when we actually knew about some of theirs having died in space . . .).

Anyway, in full keeping with the Soviet heritage, that photo had previously been released unedited . . .
 
LilyM said:
Sure, but you may think differently if it were a $10,000 diamond encrusted gold Rolex for example.
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Maybe. I’d just chalk it up to his personal style. He might just like watches-and since he doesn’t have a family to support, he might be able to afford one!
 
Sure. I know priests who wear rings or necklaces, or pins to support certain groups/causes. I’ve never seen a priest with an earring though!
OKComputer said:
Maybe. I’d just chalk it up to his personal style. He might just like watches-and since he doesn’t have a family to support, he might be able to afford one!
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Well, I’m a watch guy myself and I certainly do like nice watches… but I don’t think I’d be willing to buy a Rolex as a priest. If it was given to me as an heirloom, maybe. But either way, it’s screams scandalous for a priest to wear something like a Rolex.
 
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