I’ve not seen this in my city in Northern Illinois with priests, pastors, or any “superior” or even the bishop, at least in social settings. I’ll admit that I’ve never been involved in any kind of “business” meeting with our bishop.
I’ve not seen this in the private prep school that my children attended, and I have not seen it in the traditional Catholic school (Latin Mass, very traditional manners in classroom settings, etc.) where I volunteer. In fact, I’ve not seen it in any school, public or private, where I volunteer.
I’ve never seen this in the hospital where I have worked for 24 years; no one stands when the Chief of Staff walks in, or any other important visitor to a meeting, even representatives from any level of government.
The only time I’ve seen people rise is in court, when the JUDGE walks in, and even then, the bailiff yells out, “ALL RISE!” so that no one can miss it.
I’m not sure we want people to think of our priests as “judges.”
I also think that many priests would be uncomfortable being labeled “superior”. Yes, Christ in them is superior, but when they are just walking into a room, they aren’t
in personae Christae in the same way that they are while consecrating Eucharist.
I think this well-meaning practice could undermine belief in the True Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Communion. It would be easy for those who are of a doubting spirit to get the idea that we are merely reverencing the priest, not Jesus.
Sometimes an action should be done conservatively, rather than frequently, or it loses its significance and becomes commonplace and ordinary and the meaning is lost.
An example of this is kissing between a married couple. If they kiss every time they meet in the house, every time they part from each other (even in their own house!), etc.–well, I can see why this could make the act of kissing just a pleasant little habit rather than a meaningful gesture of love.
Also, I think that it’s very rare nowadays to find any group of people just sitting and waiting. Even in classrooms, children and teens are often engaged in various activities around the room (e.g., cleaning the classroom aquarium, picking out a book from the selection in the “Library Activity Center”, etc.), and in adult groups, there is often a small group standing around drinking coffee and chatting, and another small group fiddling with the DVD machine, etc., and it seems that it would be awkward to expect everyone to “snap to attention” and stand when someone “superior” walks in. I think half the people in the room would miss the priest’s entrance, and then they would feel very awkward when everyone suddenly got silent, and they would turn around and ask, “Hey what’s going on…oooooh. Sorry Father, I was pouring my coffee! Duh.” I think people would feel embarrassed, both the people who were standing and the poor dude who was pouring his coffee.
Also, I think the gesture depends on the size and make-up of the group. What I think could be awkward about this is if a few people stand and all the others remain seated, not knowing about the convention that apparently used to be standard practice, but now has gone the way of obscurity in modern U.S. culture. Do the standers hiss out the corner of their mouths, “Hey, you’re supposed to stand up when a priest walks in!” Or do they just stand by themselves, while everyone wonders what they’re standing for?
If the group is small, and all the people are pretty similar in age, purpose for being in the group (e.g., a choir, the parish council, etc.), then I can see everyone standing, but it should be discussed in advance so that EVERYONE knows what is going on and what is expected of them so that no one feels foolish or gauche.
One more consideration–it would be a kindness to avoid standing for the sake of those who have a hard time popping out of their seats and getting to a standing position. I’ve seen situations where the designated leader of a group (e.g., a Bible study) will stand up and greet the priest with a handshake when he comes in, and I think this is a very respectful and practical way to greet the priest.
He then asked that we sit down and apologized for disturbing!
