Priests outside of Mass: cassocks, black pants/clerical shirts, or "civilian" clothes?

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Can you cite the source of the regulation, please?

Here is what the Code of Canon Law says.

Can. 284 Clerics are to wear suitable ecclesiastical dress, in accordance with the norms established by the Episcopal Conference and legitimate local custom.

Can. 669 §1 As a sign of their consecration and as a witness to poverty, religious are to wear the habit of their institute, determined in accordance with the institute’s own law.

§2 Religious of a clerical institute who do not have a special habit are to wear clerical dress, in accordance with can. 284.

It doesn’t actually say that they must wear clerics or cassocks and then this would only be during ministry.

 

[drafdog]

I don’t think that Jacob, Cardinal Ben Zebedee or any of the other cardinals of his time ever wore a cassock, a roman collar, or any other sort of clerical “uniform.” Styles of dress change with the times and what is important is to appear neatly and decourously attired at all times.

Matthew

 

[Sr_Sally]

Unless a priest is wearing a full pants and full shirt underneath the cassock for warmth as in the winter, wearing the pants and shirt presupposes that they are the normal clothes and that the cassock is merely an add-on.

However, if the cassock was seen as the “main” clothes item, a full shirt and pants would not normally be worn underneath the cassock. Why would it be?

(Unless it was windy outside of course.)

I’m all for it! Many of the Friars I know wear shorts under their habits in the summer (with their sandals). I suppose it is the male equivalent of Catholic school girls wearing shorts under their uniforms so they can hang upside down on the monkey bars!

I still don’t have a problem with a priest (especially a diocesan priest) wearing civies on a day off. I’m sure that if an emergency presented itself, they would still assist (and have proper ID to prove their status if necessary). As another poster said getting bugged during a lunch out on a regular basis would definately be annoying.

I also think that we ALL should be saying grace at a resturant etc. to show the visiblity of the church–not just the clergy.

 

[pprimeau1976]

Bring back the cassock, if not everyday, at least on Sunday! Even Keanu Reeves wore a cassock in The Matrix Reloaded! Plus black is the color to be in, for black is the color that absorbs all light, just like we should absorb the Light of God!

http://www.metaphilm.com/images/pheatures/matrix_reloaded.jpg

 

[cue]

It doesn’t actually say that they must wear clerics or cassocks and then this would only be during ministry.

In the United States, the following is mandated:

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in accord with the prescriptions of canon 284, hereby decrees that without prejudice to the provisions of canon 288, clerics are to dress in conformity with their sacred calling.

In liturgical rites, clerics shall wear the vesture prescribed in the proper liturgicad books. Outside liturgical functions, a black suit and Roman collar are the usual attire for priests. The use of the cassock is at the discretion of the cleric.

In the case of religious clerics, the determinations of their proper institutes or societies are to be observed with regard to wearing the religious habit.

Cassocks have the advantage over clerical suits by being distinctively Catholic (the suit being characteristically more protestant) and rich in symbolism. For instance, cassocks traditionally have thirty-three buttons down the middle, one for each year in the life of our Lord. They also have five buttons on the cuff representing the five wounds of Christ. Also, the donning of the cassock, which covers the whole man (except the head) symbolizes Christ taking on our flesh and submitted to death. The cassock is then fastened with a fascia or cincture representing chastity as the collar represents obedience (priesly vows in imitation of our Lord). When a priest wears a cassock, he becomes a walking homily and in a culture that is bombarding our people with message after message, we need all the ‘broadcast space’ we can get.

 

[fcbv]

I voted for black pants and clerical shirt! I think the priests should give public witness from their vocation at all times. In my opinion, the priests and the religious (both male and female) shouldn’t wear lay clothes, because they have a very special vocation!

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

I don’t think that Jacob, Cardinal Ben Zebedee or any of the other cardinals of his time ever wore a cassock, a roman collar, or any other sort of clerical “uniform.” Styles of dress change with the times and what is important is to appear neatly and decourously attired at all times.

Matthew

An appeal to progress rarely makes a good argument. The early martyrs wore their own blood as a sign of their faith. Last night, some of us were talking about this with a priest, who had debated whether to wear his collar before departing on a recent visit to see his family. He decided to wear it, and throughout his visit, people (including two flight attendants) approached him because they wanted to talk to a priest. How many lives had he touched, simply because he decided to wear his collar that day?

 

[Morning_Star15]

Priests and religious should be visible at all times. There is power in that visibility. The Church is to be visible. If more people could see priests and religious they may just think that there is something worthy about being one! After all how do the hollywood promoters make stars out of ordinary people? They make sure they are seen, and seen again, and again, and again! This needs to be done by priests. Get noticed again and again and again, doing good in the real world. Get seen blessing the check out person at Publix! Get seen going into peoples homes! Get seen saying grace in resteraunts! Get seen! Get seen! Get seen! The only way to get seen from a distance doing these things is to wear the Habit!

Right now, it looks as if, outside of Mass, even the clergy and half the religious are ashamed to be seen! How does that encourage vocations? Be seen, be recognized, be honored, and watch the vocations grow!

I love seeing priests out on the street and being able to see that they are priests, or religous. When I see than I go out of my way to thank them for being visible to the world and to my children.

May God grant extra special blessings upon those of his who are willing to be recognized by the whole world as being HIs!

Well said! My thoughts exactly.

 

[PaulaB52]

In the United States, the following is mandated:

. For instance, cassocks traditionally have thirty-three buttons down the middle, one for each year in the life of our Lord. They also have five buttons on the cuff representing the five wounds of Christ. Also, the donning of the cassock, which covers the whole man (except the head) symbolizes Christ taking on our flesh and submitted to death. The cassock is then fastened with a fascia or cincture representing chastity as the collar represents obedience (priestly vows in imitation of our Lord)…

Wow, I didn’t know all of that, thanks for sharing! It’s pretty cool how everything in the Catholic leads back to Our Lord.

I voted clerical pants/shirt/collar. When I was the parish secretary, our priest would wear just regular clothing when we went out running errands. I asked him once why he didn’t wear his priest clothing. He quoted the scripture where Jesus tells his disciples to go out with with no bag, no food, etc and speak to no one. Umm, ok.

The church where I attend daily Mass, the priest wears shorts/sandals under his alb while saying Mass. I don’t care for that at all. I at least hope during Sunday’s Mass he wears black pants.

I love the cassock. I wish that were the norm. As for seeing priest/religious out in their clerical clothing, I"m all for it. Last weekend while dining at the local Mexican restaurant, a large group of nuns came in to eat, in their habits. You can bet the atmosphere of the place got a lot more quiet and respectful.

 

[drafdog]

An appeal to progress rarely makes a good argument.

And since the cassock and clerical “uniform” are an example of “progress” your point is…?
Please note that I never mentioned progress. All I said was that styles of attire change. I’m open to change, after all nothing remains the same forever. But I’m EDIT darned if I know what constitutes progress.

Matthew

 

[txangel]

I voted “cassock”. I never thought I would say that…it looks so old fashioned. However the priest that came to our parish 4 years ago is a diocesan priest and he wears a cassock at all times, unless he’s going out for hospital visits and such, then he wears the black clerical pants, shirt and jacket.

Some of the parishioners don’t care for the cassock but I think these are mostly liberals. Our parish has become quite orthodox (again…I love it), with our current pastor.

Seeing priests in civies is still hard for me but I understand, especially for retired priests, that it’s more comfortable. Obviously, if priests are exercising or participating in sports, they have to wear civilian clothing.

 

[Lepanto]

Cassocks have the advantage over clerical suits by being distinctively Catholic (the suit being characteristically more protestant) and rich in symbolism.

Nothing preaches without words more than a cassock (or religious habit).

 

[cathsem]

My opinion is that the cassock is nice, especially when engaging in ministry around the Church. However, when handling “secular buisness” (e.g. going around town), it would seem that the clerical suit is more appropriate. Therefore, I vote for clerics, though I wish I could vote for both the cassock and clerics, because when (God willing) I am ordained, I would like to wear the cassock for the sacristy, the confessional, the church, etc. and use clerics for more business contexts. When it comes to exceptions for “civies”, certainly manual labor, exercise, and “outdoor-type” activities would be reasonable. In addition, I debate in my own mind about vacations to visit my parents and other family members (My mom should feel comfortable calling me “son” instead of “Father.”) Other than that, I intend to wear clerical attire all the time, regardless of where. (Conversions and reversions can and often do take place in airports, train stations, and the like.)

 

[KCT]

I love the look of cassocks .

What they wear depends on what they’re doing. A cassock while ministering to the faithful in the Amazon jungle - no. --KCT

 

[Khoria_Anna]

I know that a nice cassock goes for $230 and up, but low-end ones good enough for “every day” use can be bought for around $75 each and are machine washable.

Yes, and the priest won’t need to even own an expensive suit, nor sport jacket, for occasions when those are appropriate, but may instead wear the much more practical and comfortable cassock. He won’t need to change to go from office to liturgical duties to hospital to meetings to formal receptions. Throw on a cover-all (machine washable, permanent press) cassock over black pants and a clerical shirt, or over black shorts and black sport shirt, or over paint splattered work clothes and the priest is appropriately dressed no matter where he’s called to be, from youth pool party to hospital, to habitat for humanity work project, to office, to . . . .

 

[Linuse]

Based on experience, there is a place for both the formal and the “civilian” clothes. The first parish I served in, I ended up with more appointments because I was not in “priest’s” clothes. So often, the person would find out that I was a priest after we had been talking a while and then someone would come up and say “Hi, Father”… The person would then ask to talk about whatever it was that concerned them in a more formal setting–“since I already knew” their story.
In contrast to that, often when I was at a wedding reception in my formals, someone would come up and start talking about_____. I would make an appointment with them for a more formal meeting. I only had one show up even though one night I made at least eight appointments for_________(all at the same time) on Monday. When in formals, I would normally be approached by someone who wanted to see a priest only after they had TOO MUCH TO DRINK. I got to the point where at wedding receptions, I tried to be gone by 10 PM. That seemed to be when the drunks started approaching.
To repeat–I sure had a lot more people coming to discuss some issue in their life, when they met me while I was dressed informally.
Those who emphasized the formal would call and set up an appointment–but the number of these was far less than those who came because they had met me in an informal situation. And many times, these same people expressed that they would NEVER have come had it not been for meeting me as a normal person first.

 

[Lepanto]

Based on experience, there is a place for both the formal and the “civilian” clothes.

Although some cassocks are higher quality and nicer than other cassocks, I view them as neither formal nor informal. They are merely priestly clothes.

The first parish I served in, I ended up with more appointments because I was not in “priest’s” clothes. So often, the person would find out that I was a priest after we had been talking a while and then someone would come up and say “Hi, Father”… The person would then ask to talk about whatever it was that concerned them in a more formal setting–“since I already knew” their story.
In contrast to that, often when I was at a wedding reception in my formals, someone would come up and start talking about_____. I would make an appointment with them for a more formal meeting. I only had one show up even though one night I made at least eight appointments for_________(all at the same time) on Monday. When in formals, I would normally be approached by someone who wanted to see a priest only after they had TOO MUCH TO DRINK. I got to the point where at wedding receptions, I tried to be gone by 10 PM. That seemed to be when the drunks started approaching.
To repeat–I sure had a lot more people coming to discuss some issue in their life, when they met me while I was dressed informally.
Those who emphasized the formal would call and set up an appointment–but the number of these was far less than those who came because they had met me in an informal situation. And many times, these same people expressed that they would NEVER have come had it not been for meeting me as a normal person first.

This is not meant as an attack on you, nor do I question your anecdotes, but given a choice, I personally would rather discuss a spiritual matter with a man who presents himself as a priest (by wearing priestly clothes,among other things).

My perception is that if “Fr. Bob” tries so hard to fit in with the laity so as to be indistinguishable from them, then he really is no more worth consulting then my Uncle Bob or maybe even Pastor Bob over at Calvary Chapel. If some priests (and religious sisters) are trying to be indistinguishable from the laity then I’d say that to a large extent they have succeeded in becoming invisible.