Priestly Attire

[PASCENDI]

How about the priests that insist on wearing the stole OVER the chasuble. Talk about trying to look like a protestant, this was started in Geneva by the CalvinistsOVER

 

[Sanosuke]

The vocation director in my archdiocese cited some poll saying that more people think the dress of Roman Catholic priests is the most classy uniform than any other uniform. I agree. Nothing says devotion to the Catholic faith like a Roman collar IMHO. Nothing says, “preach the gospel always, and when necessary use words” like a Roman collar, either. I love seeing our clergy’s uniform, and I hope as many priests wear it as possible!

 

[t_times]

A Priest or Nun should always be in proper attire when meeting or in contact with the public. Their JOB is to save SOULs, if they are afraid to show themselves or embarrassed by the collar or habit then they are in the wrong business.

 

[dcs]

I know a priest who told me that his “conservative” bishop was actually scandalized by his wearing the cassock (instead of the business-suit “clericals”).

 

[dcs]

Ken:

I suggest that many of the arguments presented for a distinctive dress for priests could also be used to support a distinctive dress for all Catholics.

How so? When the Pope, or the Sacred Canons, say that those in Holy Orders and professed religious should wear distinctive dress, how does this apply to “all” Catholics?

 

[Poisson]

I just like priests and nuns to look like priests and nuns so that I can show them the respect they so much deserve.
I also think that someone who has been away from the Church might have something well up inside of them upon seeing a priest that urges them to ask if he would hear their confession.

 

[Detroit_Sue]

Br. Dan:

Actually, it is canon law that priests are supposed to dress in distinctive garb, which varies from country to country. (If my canon law book wasn’t way over there on the shelf, I’d look up the paragraph number for you. ) I think the “place” for priests and religious to dress in their habit or clerics is when they are in public, due to the sign value their clothes can have… Since, as “JackPaul” said, the dress can be somewhat of a barrier, if a priest is only among people who already know he’s a priest, I don’t see as much of a reason to “dress up.” And, i suppose, a water slide isn’t the place for a cassock or full habit.

At the same time, if all priests and religious actually wore their proper attire, we wouldn’t be quite as intimidated by those who do…

Very well said, Br. Dan.:clapping: I feel the same way. A priest in his clerics commands respect. Everyone behaves just a little bit better in the presence of obvious clergy. I also rue the day that nuns (at large) stopped wearing the habit. I know a few who still do, and they always remind me of angels (even the Felicians in their brown ).

To digress to another point, it drives me totally insane when the laity address a priest, deacon, brother, or nun by their first name, with no respect to the office.

 

[cnelms]

The ordination proclaims he’s a priest forever in the order of Melchisidech (sp?), regardless of attire. That said, unless he is on vacation/holiday, he should be wearing his roman collar and clergy shirt. I don’t believe the shirt has to be black however. Our associate wears a lot of white clergy shirts, and he had on a red one for Pentecost. I don’t believe priests should have to wear clergy attire at parish picnics either.

 

[Crusader]

cnelms:

The ordination proclaims he’s a priest forever in the order of Melchisidech (sp?), regardless of attire. That said, unless he is on vacation/holiday, he should be wearing his roman collar and clergy shirt. I don’t believe the shirt has to be black however. Our associate wears a lot of white clergy shirts, and he had on a red one for Pentecost. I don’t believe priests should have to wear clergy attire at parish picnics either.

Nothing like dumbing down a priest’s attire. I think it would depend on where the priest went on vacation. If he was in the Amazon on an expedition obviously clerical garb would not be appropriate. If he was vacationing in Rome on the other hand, a cassock or black suit with Roman collar might be more appropriate.

I see some priests (usually Europeans) wearing light grey shirts with white collars. Not hideous, but not in the same league as black garb. The red shirt sounds like flat-out horrible taste. Horrible taste which should not be appled to clerical garb.

Finally, unless the weather is truly stifling, I cannot see a better place for a priest to wear clerical garb than at a picnic. It’s just great “witness.” Maybe a light cassock or a short sleeved black shirt with a Roman collar of course…

 

[otm]

I am old enough to remember pre-Vatican II, and at that time many of the priests I knew were moving from a cassock to a suit, with the collar.

Personally, I have to wonder at a male, non order (diocesan) priest who wants to walk around in what looks a lot like a dress… given the estimates of 50% to 80% of our ordained clergy being homosexual, I would prefer the suit.

 

[dcs]

cnelms:

The ordination proclaims he’s a priest forever in the order of Melchisidech (sp?), regardless of attire. That said, unless he is on vacation/holiday, he should be wearing his roman collar and clergy shirt. I don’t believe the shirt has to be black however. Our associate wears a lot of white clergy shirts, and he had on a red one for Pentecost. I don’t believe priests should have to wear clergy attire at parish picnics either.

In the U.S., AFAIK, the clerics must be black. They have different attire in other climes.

Around here, if I saw a priest in a red, white, or blue shirt with a Roman collar, I would assume he was a Protestant minister.

Priests ought to wear the cassock and the biretta.

 

[dcs]

otm:

Personally, I have to wonder at a male, non order (diocesan) priest who wants to walk around in what looks a lot like a dress… given the estimates of 50% to 80% of our ordained clergy being homosexual, I would prefer the suit.

A cassock looks nothing like a dress.

I don’t care for the suit because (a) it’s frankly an accommodation to popular culture and (b) it’s been adopted by mainstream Protestants.

 

[Crusader]

otm:

I am old enough to remember pre-Vatican II, and at that time many of the priests I knew were moving from a cassock to a suit, with the collar…

So?

otm:

Personally, I have to wonder at a male, non order (diocesan) priest who wants to walk around in what looks a lot like a dress… given the estimates of 50% to 80% of our ordained clergy being homosexual, I would prefer the suit.

I would wonder why anyone would attempt to correlate a “dress” with being a homosexual?

Not that a cassock looks like a dress. It’s still common garb for priests – particularly around their parishes.

“50% to 80%” is an extremely wide number. Did you simply make it up?

 

[Br.Dan_OCD]

Dear all who think the cassock (or habit, for that matter) is girly:

You should see the Matrix movies. I…well, alright, I guess I am admitting to seeing them, which I don’t know if I want to do, given the fact that I’m obviously in religious life. Anyway, Keanu Reeves’ character wore what looked a lot like a basic, black cassock and it looked pretty cool…and nothing like a dress.

Contrary to what was said in an earlier post, the cassock, in the US, is an option but isn’t “preferred.” … Unless I am not remembering correctly.

 

[bquinnan]

One of our parish priests wears a T-shirt when he goes jogging – that seems reasonable. My late, great uncles were priests, and they always wore collars, except when we went on a vacation to Lake Tahoe. That, too, seemed reasonable. They were on vacation and wanted to be comfortable.

But, in general, the priest holds a very special role. By respecting the collar, we show our respect for his role, as does he by wearing the collar. It’s like a police uniform – when the officer is on duty, the uniform enables us to give him proper respect as an administrator of law and order. Of course, an officer takes the uniform off when not on duty, but a priest is always “on the clock.”

The Paulist priests at my college did not wear collars except when the bishop came to visit. They also did not introduce themselves as “Father so-and-so.” The impact was that they really commanded no special respect as priests except perhaps for having some extra scholarlyl knowledge. In my opinion, it is good for us to be able to treat priests with the proper respect – they do us a service by wearing the collar.

 

[bquinnan]

Br. Dan:

Dear all who think the cassock (or habit, for that matter) is girly:

You should see the Matrix movies. I…well, alright, I guess I am admitting to seeing them, which I don’t know if I want to do, given the fact that I’m obviously in religious life. Anyway, Keanu Reeves’ character wore what looked a lot like a basic, black cassock and it looked pretty cool…and nothing like a dress.

Ditto for Luke Skywalker in “Return of the Jedi”! The priests and religious are our Jedis, so to speak.

 

[pnewton]

otm:

given the estimates of 50% to 80% of our ordained clergy being homosexual, I would prefer the suit.

Did you know that 81.3% of all statistics are made up?

 

[iguana27]

t times:

A Priest or Nun should always be in proper attire when meeting or in contact with the public. Their JOB is to save SOULs, if they are afraid to show themselves or embarrassed by the collar or habit then they are in the wrong business.

I would argue that it is priest and nun’s job to equip the laity to save souls.

Priests should wear priestly garb when presiding at a a mass. The rest of the time, they should dress appropriately for the situation.

 

[MarLee]

When I was in grade school, back in the 50’s , one or our parish priests took a group of us on an outing where we had a great time tobogganing and then went out to dinner. He only requested that the group not mention that he was a priest when we were at the restaurant. He had taken us to visit some friends of his and it was the only way he could really relax and be treated as a ‘normal’ person. I’m sure if the need arose due to an emergency he would not have hesitated to help in any way he could nor would he have kept his priesthood a secret.

I think our former parish priest appreciated that when he came over to our house not wearing his collar our family treated him as a person not always as a priest. Sometimes people are afraid to act normal around religious. I also remember my mother saying that her generation wondered if/how they ate!

However, I do think that there is a time and place for ‘regular dress’ and ‘priestly attire’ and religious should take that into consideration when deciding what to wear.

 

[misericordie]

:clapping: Bro. Dan best said it here. It is in Canon Law, clerical garb (the cassock is STILL and should be worn Within the rectory, the actual parish and especially (for a good example) in the Parish Catholic School even if some NON-catholic teachers get angry, well one resonse: to bad.

Also, there is basically one main reason WHY many men and women religious, and diocesan clergy don’t like clerical garb (I like cutting to the grain in truth) they feel embarassed of their vocation. Also, they just want to be one of the fellows, the type that says, “don’t call me father, please! Call me by my first name which is…”. When this is said, it is as if they are throwing the respect one has for them, back at one’s face. It is actually rude. Sad too. Of course the way I handle it is: Okay Father, thanks, father, see you later father. Then when I see him again: "hello father, can you please give me your priestly blessing (even if I see him in the supermarket).