The warmer months are coming. Should your pastor implement a modesty dress code for church (for both men and women)?

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Our parish is a student parish and sometimes the college students and/or the youngins show up in some very revealing clothing for sunday mass. Which is inappropriate and distracting, imo. I would like our priest to say something or publish something in the bulletin.
 
graceandglory said:
They do it in public schools; it should be done also in Church.
The Church should be the moral leaders of the community, not the schools.
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:amen:

I voted yes. A letter in the bulletin this spring, then re-printed as necessary seems like it would suffice. Maybe a sign in the lobby as well.

I think it’s kind of distracting from the issue to focus on how a dress code “could never be reasonably enforced.” The point isn’t the enforcement or even the code itself, but rather that the expectaction is in place and is made public so everyone is aware of it. This expectation is already implicit in the Church anyway, so an official dress code would just be highlighting the obvious. Sometimes, in some parishes, this is unfortunately necessary. If any “violations” of the code get so out of hand as to require enforcement, then it would ideally be addressed by the pastor on a person-by-person basis.

I don’t think it would really be a problem, though. All the church would be asking is for a very reasonable degree of respect and decency.
 
Maritsa said:
All they need to do is turn the AC way down. People will bring in sweaters and jackets to cover their legs and arms and over time will expect to wear more coverage to keep from freezing. It is a little sneaky, but it keeps the people coming without being confrontational in an age where many aren’t ready or that particular confrontation yet.
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I think the congregations should be addressed about what is proper attire for Mass. It is understandable that not everyone can dress up, and that isn’t necessary. But certain body parts should certainly be covered!
Last summer I jokingly complemented my pastor for having the AC on in the church for that reason. He didn’t say if he actually was doing it for that reason though, lol.
 
Many people are suggesting to post a dress code in the bulletin. I think thats only one step, though, because me-thinks that most people who dress scantily aren’t likely to be church bulletin readers.

I know I’m generalizing, but I suspect that I’m correct.
 
I voted yes. In my opinion, the code should be in the bulletin, but the priest also needs to address it from the pulpit.
 
No, it is what is on the inside not the outside that matters.
 
Lepanto said:
So bikinis and speedos would be acceptable then?

Don’t you think that the outside reflects what’s on the inside?
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Good point. We also don’t want to be a temptation, occasion of sin, or whatever you want to call it, to others by the way we are dressed. Especially at Mass and before our Lord is received in holy communion.
 
I think if people understand what the Mass is, they can fully determine what’s appropriate, and it’s definitely not a tee shirt and shorts. That said, people are going to wear what they want to. Nobody’s going to kick anyone out for breaking a dress code.
 
Lepanto said:
The warmer months are coming. Should your pastor implement a modesty dress code for church (for both men and women)?

Remember, we’re talking about modesty, not stylishness or cost of the clothes.
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Our parish priest makes several announcements at the beginning of summer. He reads the dress code from a local club, then asks us why we can’t dress better for the Lord. Very effective!
 
My parish have few big signs on a tripod in front of all doors listing all the rules. 🙂 It is still hard sometimes to have all dress modesty since we have moved to a bigger church holding up to 1,700 per mass and quite a few are visitors who don’t know that our pastor is strict on dressing code.
 
I voted “no.” Who’s going to enforce it, the modesty police at every door? Turn people away as they’re going into mass? Make them sit in the back of the church?
 
mommyof4 said:
I voted “no.” Who’s going to enforce it, the modesty police at every door? Turn people away as they’re going into mass? Make them sit in the back of the church?
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I don’t think we should have modesty police, as turning people away would do no good. But setting a policy, then gently reminding people weekly in the bulletin and asking people to be mindful of what they wear to mass would be a good step.

I know I was only joking around about having the paper covers like they do in some of the old cathedral and churches in Italy when people come to visit, but I wonder if they could have something in the vestibule for people to pick up and put over them, if they feel themselves not modestly dressed enough - sort of like how they keep yamachas and headcovers in baskets at the vestibules of synogogues which can be returned at the end of their services. Probably wouldn’t work, but I know that people waiting in line for 45 min to an hour to go into the Duomo in Firenze didn’t mind having to put on the cover there.
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
I have yet to see them worn to mass. :rolleyes:
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Almost every year, I’ve the speedo-wearing people at mass after the bike races.

Other times, after various different races “for the cure” or other types of charities, people dressed in all kinds of ways will come in wet, sweaty, smelly and dirty. A lot of them tend to wrap themselves up in something to be a little more modest, but some don’t. It’s nice that they even thought about coming to mass, as I know some of them who I know think it’s more important to “race for the cure” than to attend mass. I used to be given a guilt-trip all the time about not doing them with the person I knew, which was always a Sunday morning. I’d rather just give them the money anonymously and not do the race if it has to be on a Sunday. (These races are great ways of raising money and awareness - BUT why on a Sunday morning?!?!?!)
 
Is it even permissible under canon law to deny the Holy Sacrament based on dress? I thought such a thing was not allowed.
 
Let me throw in my own ideas since I come for a year-round hot country, and churches are not typically air-conditioned.

In my church (it’s a shrine, actually), there is an announcement said before every single Mass:

“We also humbly request that those wearing sleeveless clothing provide yourselves with shawls out of respect for the sacred Liturgy.”

At the door, the collection ladies keep some light shawls easily draped over a lady’s head, easily covering her shoulders and front. The shawl is well-cut and looks great on the ladies who wear them. If a lady comes in with a, er, textile shortage, the collectoras simply approach them discreetly, hand them a neatly folded shawl and invite them to put them on. No one is ever turned away, and most of the time, those approached are gracious about it.
 
pnewton said:
Is it even permissible under canon law to deny the Holy Sacrament based on dress? I thought such a thing was not allowed.
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Nobody suggested denial of communion, but yes, a priest does have the right to deny communion if someone is not properly disposed (a judgment call for scandalous dress or disrespectful behavior such as gum chewing, for example):

Can. 843 §1 Sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them.

And some other reasons:

Canon 844 §1 Catholic ministers may lawfully administer the sacraments only to catholic members of Christ’s faithful, who equally may lawfully receive them only from Catholic ministers, except as provided in §§2, 3 and 4 of this canon and in canon 861 §2.

Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 916 Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession, unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.
 
But this really isn’t about denying anyone communion or “how are we going to enforce” a dress code. Those what-ifs kind of distract from the point.

A dress code clearly established and then reiterated every now and then in the bulletin would only be reminding people of what they are already bound and expected to do. As the People of God (jk-- lepanto!), I mean as Catholics we are supposed to dress decently for mass. Everyone knows this…Codifying it would be charitible because we’d be choosing to assume that some people are “forgetful” about this issue when the weather heats up.

Don’t worry about how it would be enforced. The hope is it wouldn’t have to be. Really, persistently bad examples could be addressed on a case-by-case basis by the pastor.
 
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