Should priests wear their clerics when out grocery shopping? Getting a haircut? Seeing a movie? Walking the dog? Away on vacation?

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Copperman said:
It should be up to the priest. They sacrifice enough in life. They’ve earned the right to decide.
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Hmmmmm! :hmmm: What does that say about acting in the person of Christ? Clergy is to be a light in the world, not hid under a bushel.
 
buffalo said:
Hmmmmm! :hmmm: What does that say about acting in the person of Christ? Clergy is to be a light in the world, not hid under a bushel.
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Read the whole passage. Christ is talking about our behavior, not wearing a collar.
 
Indeed. Priests and Catholics in general should always follow the path of sacrifice. You never reach a status on this earth when you can choose or not to sacrifice.
 
Lepanto said:
Should priests wear their clerics when out grocery shopping? Getting a haircut? Seeing a movie? Walking the dog? Away on vacation?
Essentially, should priests wear their clerics when away from the parish going about their lives when not directly engaged in ministry?

Why or why not?
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What I found most disturbing was the situations given.

A priest should never do those things. Take a vacation is impossible if you are a priest.

One thing is to go on a retreat or rest a bit.

But the sick idea of what a vacation is today is something else.

It is more like a vacation from the Commandments.

Loosen the collar, put on the jeans and go be like everyother sinner in the world.

A priest must *always * be identifiable as a priest. Deacons as well. Religious too.

I hate that terrible practice of religious without a habit. It is disgusting. You can tell they are religious because of their funny dress and short GI Jane hair cuts. Like they say in Spanish
totally progre.
 
buffalo said:
I am talking about the behavior of wearing a collar or not.
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You may be talking about that, but Jesus was not referring to such superficial acts that are really only designed to draw attention to oneself, not to Christ.
 
Pro_Domina said:
What I found most disturbing was the situations given.

A priest should never do those things. Take a vacation is impossible if you are a priest.

One thing is to go on a retreat or rest a bit.

But the sick idea of what a vacation is today is something else.

It is more like a vacation from the Commandments.

Loosen the collar, put on the jeans and go be like everyother sinner in the world.

A priest must *always * be identifiable as a priest. Deacons as well. Religious too.

I hate that terrible practice of religious without a habit. It is disgusting. You can tell they are religious because of their funny dress and short GI Jane hair cuts. Like they say in Spanish
totally progre.
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Gee this is such an angry post. A priest should never go on vacation? Tell that to the pope, who is just coming off vacation. Priests need R&R, a week at the beach, a trip with family or friends. Priests can suffer burnout if they don’t do these things. Retreats, yes are necessary, but a retreat can be hard work. Why is the idea of a vacation sick? A priest is human and should be allowed to have fun.

How, tell me, is it that you identify a deacon? In our diocese and in many dioceses they are not allowed to wear clerical attire.

And the idea that dressing in something other than a habit or clericals as being disgusting…how can you say something like that about people who have dedicated their lives to Christ. Clothes do not make the man, or the woman, which included priests and religious. I have know both who dress the part but in no way act the part. i do like to see priests and religious in habits, but they don’t have to live and breath in them 24/7.
 
In Portugal, the Orthodox priests I know have a kind of ‘vacations’, which consists in travelling to the most touristic locations in order to provide Confession and Mass to the faithful.
 
Copperman said:
It should be up to the priest. They sacrifice enough in life. They’ve earned the right to decide.
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Amen. Many priests I have spoken with over the years, have commented as to how they become “targets” out in public. People “kiss up” to some pretty ridiculous lengths, as if somehow pandering to a priest in public gains them brownie points with God.

Our pastor always wears his clericals in public. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not wearing them. Other priests are more comfortable in street clothes when out doing personal errands.

One priest told me that sometimes he wears, or doesn’t wear clericals out in public, as a method of “people watching”…observing how a counterperson at a store treats him in street clothes, or in clericals.

As I am not aware of any edict from Rome stating otherwise, I think it is their choice, and we should respect that. There are a hundred and one ways to offer testimony through our lives…how we speak and act…as opposed to how we dress.
 
Pro_Domina said:
What I found most disturbing was the situations given.

A priest should never do those things. Take a vacation is impossible if you are a priest.
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A priest shouldn’t, or can’t go to a movie? What about “The Passion of the Christ”?

:hmmm:
 
The Pope did not take a vacation like the priests do these days. He went to rest, but did not go out with “friends” or a “week at the beach”. He was relaxing in a moral way, with the greater good in mind. And goint to the movies is usually an occasion for sin.
Not only the movies are immoral, but the people that go to them as well.
 
Pro_Domina said:
The Pope did not take a vacation like the priests do these days. He went to rest, but did not go out with “friends” or a “week at the beach”. He was relaxing in a moral way, with the greater good in mind. And goint to the movies is usually an occasion for sin.
Not only the movies are immoral, but the people that go to them as well.
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The Passion of the Christ was “immoral”? As was everyone that attended?

Methinks you paint with too broad a brush. The Pope never goes “out with friends”? Does being Pope preclude personal friendship(s)?

The Pope is certainly capable of going on a vacation while avoiding sin. I for one, would certainly not go out on a limb claiming otherwise.
 
Woodleigh said:
What should priests be wearing, and when and where?

Questions like this make Catholics sound like naive and immature children. I have read so many of these childish inquiries on Catholic Answers from non-thinking “sheep”.

For heaven’s sake, God gave us all a brain (some bigger than others, for sure), and I believe he expects us to use that brain to decide what is right or wrong: what makes good sense or does not.
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Thank you for taking the time to help us raise our maturity levels. :rolleyes:
 
ethelzguy said:
Many priests I have spoken with over the years, have commented as to how they become “targets” out in public.
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“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.” Luke 6:22-23
 
I used to think yes they should but now I don’t. Good priest s are good men and their good character will show through. They don’t need the clothes to show who they are and what they do. The clerical garb puts people off and on guard so they act (the normal person) like they are putting on a show, for the priest. I don’t really care what they wear but they should keep the moral character to go along with their spiritual if they have one, off the job that is or on.
Just like a good cop or fireman or social worker. 🙂
 
Lepanto said:
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.” Luke 6:22-23
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I can also whip out the scripture about not being rewarded in Heaven because you’ve already received your reward on Earth, (being kissed up to out in public because you’re a “Man of God”).

We can all take scriptures out of context to make our respective cases. :cool:
 
ethelzguy said:
I can also whip out the scripture about not being rewarded in Heaven because you’ve already received your reward on Earth, (being kissed up to out in public because you’re a “Man of God”).
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Pandering would be inappropriate, as well (for both the panderer as well as the panderee).
 
they should follow the directions and discipline of their bishops or religious superiors. If they are engaging in dogwalking, bungee jumping, surfing or any other activities that calls for special attire, they should where what is appropriate.
 
puzzleannie said:
If they are engaging in dogwalking, bungee jumping, surfing or any other activities that calls for special attire, they should where what is appropriate.
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Maybe I was too specific in the original post regarding the types of activities. Certainly sports and manual labor do require special clothing. I don’t want to get bogged down on exceptional activities. (Obviously, if a priest changes his own engine oil he should not wear clerics.)

What I’m getting at is if a priest is off parish property doing “normal” everyday activities in which he is not directly engaging in ministry.
 
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