The title “Father” is a very ancient title of respect. It predates the Church and is not just Catholic. It was common in Asia and India too. The ancient Asians and Indians would refer to the leader of the clan as Good Father. It was applied to priests, Eastern Rite deacons, and religious superiors (be they priests or not) from the early days of the Church. It denotes spiritual fatherhood. Hence the term, Patriarch.
It is often used in the local language or in one of the ancient languages: such as Abbot or Abba. In some religious communities where the vocation to the brotherhood is the focus, those brothers who are ordained go by Brother, not Father. But that’s a tradition of certain communities. That often gets confusing for the stranger, because many people believe that a brother is a seminarian. So when they hear that Brother Jack is hearing confessions, they get confused. We always have to explain that some brothers are also priests, when someone asks to go to confession. We make it a point to use the word, ALSO. This helps people understand that he’s both, a brother and a priest.
There is no hard and fast rule regarding calling a diocesan priest Fr Last Name. It’s a cultural thing. Among Hispanics it’s not done. All priests are called Fr. Joseph, Fr. John and so forth. In some cultures, especially some African cultures, they use Papa N, because they continue to use European titles. They too use the first name. When they go to Europe or the USA they use the last name. In certain parts of Italy, Spain and Portugal, diocesan priests are called Don, which is the equivalent of Mr. in English. Hence we have Don Bosco. If you read some of the of the Italian articles on Msgr. Georg, without an “e”, the Holy Father’s secretary, some refer to him as Padre and others as Don. It depends on where the writer is from. We used Mr. in the USA until the mid - 1800s, for diocesan priests and Father for religious.
The same happens in many of the mendicant communities. Some use Father in the USA, but Friar in other countries. Our brothers in Italy, Spain, and Portugal are all Fra, which is short for Frater. In France we’re called Frere, which is Brother. In some of the Canadian provinces we go by Friar. The southern region in the USA goes by Brother. Father and Brother are more commonly used in other parts of the USA. The reason is that the first friars who came to the southeastern USA were Spaniards. They went by Brother. When it got translated, it became Brother. In our community the superior is always called Father, whether he is ordained or not. But that dates back to 1209 when Francis of Assisi was called Father by the brothers, even though he referred to himself as Brother Francis. To this day, we still say our Father Francis or our Holy Father Francis. Notice the use of the Holy Father. That’s because in the 13th century the Pope was not called Holy Father. He was called Lord or Your Holiness. It was the Lord Pope.
The same thing happens with Bishops. In the Latin countries, including the Latin countries of Europe: Francw, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Rumania, Roman Catholic bishops are often called Monsignor, from the ancient title, My Lord. But in Ireland and in certain parts of the UK they are called Dr. or Your Grace. They are called Doctor, because you have to be a doctor to be a bishop.
Among many of the Benedictine branches the priests are called Abba. In fact there are references to Thomas Merton as Abba Louis, which was his religious name.
In my community we still have religious names, so do other branches of the Franciscan family and other communities too. But we use the religious name with a title, not a last name. For example, mine is Jason Richard of Manassas, hence the JR. There is an old custom in some orders to call the religious by their place of origin, not by their surname. That’s St. Francis was, Brother Francis of Assisi. Franciscans have an interesting tradition that goes back to St. Francis, calling friars by nickname, rather than their name. Francis actual name was John. But he was always Brother Francis. Some of the other brothers were also given nicknames and are remembered by those names. The custom of a religious name came long after Francis’ death. It was a custom borrowed from the Carmelites. Each religious family and diocese has its customs.
It’s really a matter of custom and culture. There are no hard and fast rules for the Roman Church. I believe that the Eastern Churches call all monks Father, ordained or not. Br. David, O’Carm knows more about this than I do. He’s Eastern Catholic. I know that they call all deacons, Father Deacon. In Latin America they are never called Deacon. They are called Reverend, from their canonical title, Reverend Mr if they are secular or Clerks Regular. Deacons who are mendicants or monks are Rev Brother. But Latin Americans call all deacons Reverend. It’s easier.
In our diocese the bishop has a policy that all secular priests go by their first name, just like the religious. I don’t know why this is, maybe because the Catholic community in our diocese is predominantly Hispanic and Haitian. But I’m just guessing. This policy was here before I came. They are all Fr. Joe, Fr. Jack, Fr. Jim and so forth. You can recognize the diocesan priests who come from the north, because they go by Fr. Smith and so forth.
This was a point of contention with EWTN and the Franciscans of the Eternal Word at one point. They go by Friar. EWTN translates everyone’s titles to Father and Brother. Eventually, EWTN won out based on the argument that they were an international network and it would require an explanation all the time. This actually made sense. What I do is listen to what the local people use and follow along.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
