Turn of the Century Clerical Garb

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What was the standard clerical garb of English Catholics around the turn of the century?
 
Elijah_Baley said:
What was the standard clerical garb of English Catholics around the turn of the century?
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There was none.

Men who were religious, brothers and priests, wore the habit of their community.

Secular priests and diocesan priests wore whatever was the custom for the clergy in their area.

For example, if you look at pictures of St. John Bosco who lived at the end of th 1800s, he wore a cassock and collar. If you look at Bl. John Cardinal Newman, he wore a cassock with a shirt collar over it.

In the 1800s the United States bishops convoked the Council of Baltimore. The Council prohibitted the use of cassocks and habits off of Church property in the United States, to avoid discrimination. Therefore, priests and brothers in the USA were directed to wear the clerical shirt and collar worn by the ministers of the Church of Scottland. This collar was later adopted by the Anglicans and brought to the USA. The different is in the cut of the collar. Some wear a white banded collar and others wear a black open collar with a white band under it.

The white band was really a necktie that was tied underneath the shirt. A black jacket was worn over it. It was often referred to as a Roman Collar, because the Church of Scottland adopted the cut of the collar fro the cassocks of Italian priests.

To this day, there is no universal regulation on clerical dress. Canon Law says that if a priest is a regular, he should wear the habit of his community. If his community does not have a habit, she should wear whatever is worn by other priests in his geographical area.

Secular priests are to wear whatever is the local custom in their geographical area, with the approval of the bishop.

Brothers are to wear either a habit or any other form of dress that is approved by their founder and their superiors.

Bishops can establish a form of dress for public activities, but not for private.

A lot depends on the country where you live and the origins of your local Church. If the local Church was founded by European missionaries, as is the case in most of Africa and Latin America, they will probably wear the same clothing worn by European clergy and religious.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Bolded emphasis added.
JReducation said:
To this day, there is no universal regulation on clerical dress. Canon Law says that if a priest is a regular, he should wear the habit of his community. If his community does not have a habit, she should wear whatever is worn by other priests in his geographical area.
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I just want to point out that this is a typo and Br JR in no way advocates for priestesses in the Catholic Church.

😃
 
At the risk of tipping my hand, I was wondering if either of these was accurate. Did “shovel hats” look like that? What’s the little cape thing called, and would a London-area priest wear one?
 
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding who invented the “Roman” collar and/or public cassock. Some have told me that it was the quaint old Anglican country vicars who first invented proper identifying clerical dress in the 19th century. Looking at paintings of Bishop Bossuet from the 1680’s, his robes are basically those of a secular nobleman. Medieval Bishops and priests looked even less mystical, apparently.

Where did the collar-and-cassock-combo actually come from? No one seems to know. 😉 Anglicans claim it’s their own invention and we silly Papists stole it, and claim it as our own. You must admit that the “Roman” collar is now a symbol for Catholicism. I’d feel bad if we took the credit wrongfully. 😃
 
GloriousOrder said:
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding who invented the “Roman” collar and/or public cassock. Some have told me that it was the quaint old Anglican country vicars who first invented proper identifying clerical dress in the 19th century. Looking at paintings of Bishop Bossuet from the 1680’s, his robes are basically those of a secular nobleman. Medieval Bishops and priests looked even less mystical, apparently.

Where did the collar-and-cassock-combo actually come from? No one seems to know. 😉 Anglicans claim it’s their own invention and we silly Papists stole it, and claim it as our own. You must admit that the “Roman” collar is now a symbol for Catholicism. I’d feel bad if we took the credit wrongfully. 😃
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Some basic information regarding clerical attire from the New Liturgical Movement blogsite:

newliturgicalmovement.org/2006/05/brief-history-of-cassock.html

A brief history of the cassock.

newliturgicalmovement.org/search/label/Clerical%20Dress%20in%20the%20City%20of%20Rome%20in%20the%2019th%20Century

Clerical dress in the City of Rome in the 19th century.
What was the standard clerical garb of English Catholics around the turn of the century?
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Most likely a clerical suit in public while a cassock on Catholic property. I believe the Church of England through the state forbid Catholic clergy in England from wearing a cassock in public as that was the right of only Anglican clergy.
 
JReducation said:
For example, if you look at pictures of St. John Bosco who lived at the end of th 1800s, he wore a cassock and collar. If you look at Bl. John Cardinal Newman, he wore a cassock with a shirt collar over it.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
Click to expand...
Actually, for Bl. John Cardinal Newman I don’t believe it is a shirt collar. It’s actually part of the habit worn by the Oratorians, the order that Cardinal Newman belonged to. The Oratorians to this day continue to wear the same habit worn by the Redemptorists.

ChadS
 
PA650 said:
Some basic information regarding clerical attire from the New Liturgical Movement blogsite:

newliturgicalmovement.org/2006/05/brief-history-of-cassock.html

A brief history of the cassock.

newliturgicalmovement.org/search/label/Clerical%20Dress%20in%20the%20City%20of%20Rome%20in%20the%2019th%20Century

Clerical dress in the City of Rome in the 19th century.

Most likely a clerical suit in public while a cassock on Catholic property. I believe the Church of England through the state forbid Catholic clergy in England from wearing a cassock in public as that was the right of only Anglican clergy.
Click to expand...
ChadS said:
Actually, for Bl. John Cardinal Newman I don’t believe it is a shirt collar. It’s actually part of the habit worn by the Oratorians, the order that Cardinal Newman belonged to. The Oratorians to this day continue to wear the same habit worn by the Redemptorists.

ChadS
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If I’m understanding these pics correctly, it looks like there was no universal uniform. That sounded redundant.

Your point about the Oratorians wearing a similar cassock to that of the Redemptorists is something that I had never noticed. Thanks.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
JReducation said:
If I’m understanding these pics correctly, it looks like there was no universal uniform. That sounded redundant.

Your point about the Oratorians wearing a similar cassock to that of the Redemptorists is something that I had never noticed. Thanks.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
Click to expand...
Well, I would say there has only been a standardization of clerical attire in the past century. Today, secular clergy are typically found either wearing the standard clerical suit or cassock.

Moreover, the Redemptorist habit and Oratorian habit are quite similar:

orbiscatholicus.blogspot.com/2008/05/redemptorist-habit-at-alfonsiana-in.html

Redemptorist habit.

orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.com/2010/03/from-vatican-sons-of-saint-philip-neri.html

Oratorian habit.
 
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