US: New Jersey Priest Asks Lector: Please Don't Wear Black Lives Matter Shirt

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Modesty can be defined as not acting or dressing in a manner that draws attention to oneself. The shirt is immodest and inappropriate for Mass.
 
Wouldn’t the same rule apply to pro-Trump or pro-Biden T-shirts, or to any such display of partisan support of a political party, movement, or faction?
 
mdgspencer said:
“I obviously have neither the power nor the desire to dictate what clothing a person wears to church. On the other hand, I don’t wish to see a T-shirt become a source of division among my parishioners”
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I REALLY wish Catholics would educate themselves on what BLM stands for. Not the phrase “Black Lives Matter”, but the Marxist group behind the phrase. They have views that are incompatible with our faith. Check the “about” on their website, if y’all don’t believe me.
 
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Graphic tees are too causal for people serving at Mass.

Somebody in our parish was told not to wear a Divine Mercy tee shirt to lector. Not because of the message of the shirt, but because graphic tees are causal wear.
 
Is this for a weekday Mass? Because if it’s Sunday, no lector, choir members, EMHC, etc, should be wearing a T-shirt, even if it says “I love Jesus.” Weekday Masses if they allow T-shirts, I don’t see why not. Better than a Black Sabbath T 😂
 
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But a person wearing the T-shirt may simply be saying black lives matter. It doesn’t mean they align themselves with the tenets of the organization.
 
While I agree that political names/slogans are not appropriate for the setting of the Mass, ‘BLM’ as a phrase predates the organization that trademarked it.
 
LumineDiei said:
As parish priest, he most certainly does! If Latin Mass parishes can forbid entry of women wearing modest pants or forbid men not wearing a tie,
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Would be comical to see a priest attempting to enforce such extreme rules! What a way to cull the congregation!!
 
BartholomewB said:
Wouldn’t the same rule apply to pro-Trump or pro-Biden T-shirts, or to any such display of partisan support of a political party, movement, or faction?
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That’s what the post says:
“The Archdiocese of Newark said lectors — and all lay ministers —are told in training to steer clear of messaged shirts.”
 
BartholomewB said:
Wouldn’t the same rule apply to pro-Trump or pro-Biden T-shirts, or to any such display of partisan support of a political party, movement, or faction?
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I’d think so. Its a reasonable request especially in a church.
 
I agree I cringe whenever it’s Bronco’s home game .all the jerseys on grown men is annoying
 
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adamhovey1988 said:
I REALLY wish Catholics would educate themselves on what BLM stands for. Not the phrase “Black Lives Matter”, but the Marxist group behind the phrase. They have views that are incompatible with our faith. Check the “about” on their website, if y’all don’t believe me.
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The Marxist group you refer to is not behind the BLM movement, which you can read about here:


However I totally agree that shirts with Black Lives Matter, or any other messaging, is very inappropriate for a lector. I even feel uncomfortable seeing parishioners wearing team jerseys to church. It is OK for little children, I guess. A lot of baby attire has cute messaging on it, and people have come to expect it. But when a full-grown adult walks up to communion with New England Patriots emblazoned on his back, that seems not quite right.
 
“Black lives matter” is a sentence. Black Lives Matter is a political organization. The former is a construction of adjective, noun, and verb. The latter is an agenda driven uncompromisingly leftist entity that encourages and engages in street fighting, rioting, and mayhem. The sentence speaks a simple truth that all can agree with, while the political organization is, in its very roots, a vehicle for the espousal of hatred. The pastor is correct in instructing his lectors not to wear clothing that could cause division within his congregation.
 
Grown men wearing sports jerseys they’re not members of is cringey regardless of the occasion , but especially mass.
 
Gyro said:
“Black lives matter” is a sentence. Black Lives Matter is a political organization.
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You left out the third meaning: the movement, which is distinct from the national organization. The movement is not one of hatred but one of unity and racial justice, as witnessed by the diversity of people in the movement.
 
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I agree with you, but how do you know which was meant by the T-shirt?
 
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