Priests just blending in

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mrs_abbott

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I’ve noticed that alot of priests, particularly the younger ones, don’t wear the Roman collar or black clothing out in public. In fact, they dress just in normal every day clothes and no one would be able to tell that they are priests.
Also, the last three priests at our parish are hardly ever there. They’re always off on golf tournaments, hunting trips or vacations in the tropics.
Does our collection money every Sunday pay for this? Shouldn’t their priorities be at the parish? It seems like once every couple of months we have a substitute filling in. 😦
It’s disheartening, to say the least.
 
I just know that in some diocese, The priest (especially the young ones) wear cassocks. They basically say if they are going to dedicate their life to the Church, they might as well look like it.

As far as money, each priest recieves a stipend, and since they have free housing, and often have free food, many priest save up their money for things like vacations. I know many priest who have very nice cars, but I understand it, a priest will need his transportation to be running, and to be in good order. If a priest car won’t start and he cannot administer the sacraments when he needs to, how horrible would it be.

Anyway, I have not noticed young priest just blending in.

A lone Raven
 
The priests from my Parish “Blend in” as well. THey always wear normal clothes with no possibility of knowing that they are priests.

Intersting.
 
corvidae said:
I know many priest who have very nice cars, but I understand it, a priest will need his transportation to be running, and to be in good order. If a priest car won’t start and he cannot administer the sacraments when he needs to, how horrible would it be.
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That’s another thing I’ve noticed too. I understand that they need a good, reliable car to drive around and administer the sacraments and travel to various parishes, especially if they are pastors of more than one in a country area.
Is a Lexus SUV considered a bit much?
 
Always consider it could have been a gift, and also, depending on wherre you are, it could be a neccessity. One of the bishops in montana has a Hummer, but a person gave it to him, so that no matter how bad the snow got, he could get anywhere.

Always give them the benefit of the doubt I say.

A lone Raven
 
One of the bishops in montana has a Hummer, but a person gave it to him, so that no matter how bad the snow got, he could get anywhere.
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Probably the greatest thing I have ever heard. A priest driving a hummer, just awsome. 👍

My father rides a bike around town and is always wearing his get up and you could tell who he was.

Is there a rule that they have to wear that stuff?
 
About the dressing normally thing, I have never seen it. As for vacations, whatever, these men have giveng thier lives to God! They have very little wordly possessions, certainly much less than us. Who cares if he goes on golf outings or buys a nice car, it’s one of the very few wordly goods that he will have in his lifetime, whereas we have many of these pleasures in ours.
 
After reading some of Father Corapi’s comments about being verbally abused and even spat on when wearing his clerical garb in public, it doesn’t surprise me that some priests would choose not to.

As for the vacations - how do you know where they’re going or what work they may actually be doing when they get there? All the priests I know are incredibly hard-working and I can’t imagine that they take time off if they’re genuinely needed about the parish.
 
We have a couple of young priests in our area who wear cassocks all the time.
 
Doesn’t “cassock” refer to the long black “dress”? Maybe at one time Catholic priests wore the long dress out in public. But today they mostly wear black pants and a black shirt with a “Roman collar”. And I don’t think the pants and shirt are called a “cassock”.
 
LilyM said:
After reading some of Father Corapi’s comments about being verbally abused and even spat on when wearing his clerical garb in public, it doesn’t surprise me that some priests would choose not to.

As for the vacations - how do you know where they’re going or what work they may actually be doing when they get there? All the priests I know are incredibly hard-working and I can’t imagine that they take time off if they’re genuinely needed about the parish.
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First, I would like to see more signs of the vocation in public. However, I suspect that as noted the disdain for Catholic Clergy (abuse scandals) has caused that to be uncomfortable. I heard the story of an Epsicoplain priest chastized in public because he had hsi son with him (assumption was he was a Catholic priest with a little boy). It is sad. Ohhhh for the days of the respect at the time of Bing Crosby’s portrayl.

It is getting hard to recognize Priests because they do not wear clerical garb. I remember reading on a Charismatic Episcopal Church site where a CEC Priest spoke of wearing his collar even though he was occasionally verbally abused because he intended to represent his Lord and his calling. He mentions going into a historic Catholic Church in a big American city as a tourist. A person notices the collar and had been desparately looking for someone to hear confession and could not find the Priest. SO the CEC Priest steps in and hears confession. Afterwards he goes to leave and a guy in causal clothes comes rushing over and intorduces himself as the Priest and thanks the CEC Preist for hearing the confession (obviously not knowing that he was a CEC Priest).

Finally, on the vacation issues. Most Catholic Priests are very poorly paid compared to their Protestant COunterparts in mainline denominations. Priests retire (when they can) on very poor wages. This is a reason one I spoke to said they love to go into the military. Better wages, and far better retirement. Along that line a military Priest I knew chastized the congregation for being so much less generous than the Protestants. It was true in the milcoms I was in. I suspect this issue would make it difficult for the RC Church to support married clergy.

This got long but lastly (I promise) don’t feel too bad because there are seeker sensitive Protestant Churches where the clergy wear polo shirts and dockers.
North
 
RevDrNorth said:
SO the CEC Priest steps in and hears confession. Afterwards he goes to leave and a guy in causal clothes comes rushing over and intorduces himself as the Priest and thanks the CEC Preist for hearing the confession (obviously not knowing that he was a CEC Priest).
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A Charismatic Episcopalian priest hearing the confession of a Catholic parishioner in a Catholic church?!? :confused: :bigyikes: :tsktsk:

Did the CEC priest at least inform the PARISHIONER that he wasn’t a Catholic priest??
 
mrs_abbott said:
That’s another thing I’ve noticed too. I understand that they need a good, reliable car to drive around and administer the sacraments and travel to various parishes, especially if they are pastors of more than one in a country area.
Is a Lexus SUV considered a bit much?
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Secular priests do not take a vow of poverty, really they take no vows but make promises of obedience and chastity, I think there may be a third but I can not recall it right now but it is not poverty.

They must support themselves to an extent, except for housing and they get a stipend that helps cover food and some clothing.

They (in many dioceses) are responsible for their retirement (sometimes the diocese helps out there) and health insurance (again some dioceses may help out).

They need vacations as some parishoniers think that they should work 24/7/365. This is also why some do not always dress in clerics when they are out on personal business. That and the other concern express by another poster above, that of dislike of clergy by some of the public which I have seen.
 
ReginaNova said:
Doesn’t “cassock” refer to the long black “dress”? Maybe at one time Catholic priests wore the long dress out in public. But today they mostly wear black pants and a black shirt with a “Roman collar”. And I don’t think the pants and shirt are called a “cassock”.
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I am well aware of what a cassock is and is not. Thank you. I do know priests, especially young ones who wear that “dress” in public. That is why I used the word.

Sorry, it is a pet peeve of mine that people think because their diocese does it one way, or their parish does it one way, every diocese or parish does it that way. That is not what Catholic (Universal) means. It means we believe the same things.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled program

A lone Raven
 
LilyM said:
As for the vacations - how do you know where they’re going or what work they may actually be doing when they get there? All the priests I know are incredibly hard-working and I can’t imagine that they take time off if they’re genuinely needed about the parish.
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They announce where they’re going the Sunday before they leave. They’ll say, “I need some r 'n r and I’m going to Corpus Christi to lay on the beach” and then two weeks later “I’m going to Florida for a golf tournament” and then a month later “I’m going hunting with some buddies of mine”.
All I’m getting at is that most people that work only get two weeks worth of vacation a year. If a priest is doing missionary work, that’s one thing. But when taking off to do what I mentioned above is another. It’s just a bit much.
 
faithfulrock3r said:
About the dressing normally thing, I have never seen it. As for vacations, whatever, these men have giveng thier lives to God! They have very little wordly possessions, certainly much less than us. Who cares if he goes on golf outings or buys a nice car, it’s one of the very few wordly goods that he will have in his lifetime, whereas we have many of these pleasures in ours.
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I just thought that the priests were kinda supposed to segregate themselves from the material world to better focus on administering the sacraments to their congregations.
 
I agree that it’s good for all to see a priest in his collar. The world needs it now more than ever. I can see the other side, however. A Franciscan Friar told me that another friar and he were walking down the street, wearing their habit, eating an ice cream. A lady rushed up to them and said,“I didn’t know that they let you eat ice cream!”:cool:
 
mrs_abbott said:
I just thought that the priests were kinda supposed to segregate themselves from the material world to better focus on administering the sacraments to their congregations.
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Secular priests can not do this as they are responsible for much, again, no vow (actually they make no vows at all) of poverty. They have to worry about transportation, insurance, health care, retirement (some dioceses help out but not all).

Religious priests are more free to do so but you have to keep in mind that the congregations that they serve live in the material world. One must keep in touch with it or they will lose touch with the congregation.
 
ByzCath said:
Secular priests can not do this as they are responsible for much, again, no vow (actually they make no vows at all) of poverty. They have to worry about transportation, insurance, health care, retirement (some dioceses help out but not all).

Religious priests are more free to do so but you have to keep in mind that the congregations that they serve live in the material world. One must keep in touch with it or they will lose touch with the congregation.
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I think my point is getting lost in translation somewhere. I’m not saying that the priests should live in little “holy bubbles” and become oblivious to the “real world” but by blending in (ex. wearing normal clothes), which is the topic of this thread, they act like they want to be one of us. I would think since they’ve accepted the calling of the priesthood, that they would proudly wear the Roman collar and either the cassock or black pants/black shirt out in public and be a living witness of Christ.
I have met a few priests that ALWAYS wear the Roman collar with either the cassock or black shirt and pants. I admire them for being so bold in a world that’s very-much anti-Christ.
 
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