LIFTED FROM FR. Z'S POST: After some years of waiting, the next, new edition of the Directory for the Ministry and the Life of Priests has been issued by the Congregation of Clergy, which is now under the direction of His Eminence Beniamino Card. Stella. He was appointed by Pope Francis.
The PDF in English HERE
This is going to take a while to absorb, but I want you priests and bishops to take note of a paragraph right away.
Go to PAGE 82 in the PDF.
The Importance and Obligatory Nature of Ecclesiastical Attire
61. In a secularised and basically materialistic society where the external signs of sacred and supernatural realities tend to disappear, deeply felt is the need for the priest – man of God, dispenser of his mysteries – to be recognisable in the eyes of the community by his attire as well, and this as an unequivocal sign of his dedication and identity as holder of a public ministry. The priest must be recognisable above all through his conduct, but also by his attire, which renders visible to all the faithful, and to each person, his identity and his belonging to God and to the Church.
Clerical attire is the external sign of an interior reality: “Indeed, the priest no longer belongs to himself but, because of the sacramental seal he has received (cf. Catechism of Catholic Church, nn. 1563, 1582), is the ‘property’ of God. The priest’s ‘belonging to Another’, must become recognisable to all, through a transparent witness. […] In the way of thinking, speaking, and judging events of the world, of serving and loving, of relating to people, also in his habits, the priest must draw prophetic power from his sacramental belonging”. For this reason the priest, like the transitory deacon, must: [transitional deacon...]
a) wear either the cassock “or suitable ecclesiastical dress, in accordance with the norms established by the Episcopal Conference and legitimate local customs”; when other than the cassock, attire must be different from the way laypersons dress and consonant with the dignity and sanctity of the minister; the style and the colour are to be determined by the Conference of Bishops; [Once again, the default dress for the priest is identified as the cassock.]
b) because of their incoherence with the spirit of this discipline, contrary practices are bereft of the rationality necessary for them to become legitimate customs and must be absolutely eliminated by the competent authority.
Outside of specific exceptional cases, the non use of ecclesiastical attire may manifest a weak sense of one’s identity as a pastor dedicated entirely to the service of the Church.
Moreover, in its form, colour and dignity the cassock is most opportune, because it clearly distinguishes priests from laymen and makes people understand the scared nature of their ministry, reminding the priest himself that forever and at each moment he is a priest ordained to serve, teach, guide, and sanctify souls mainly through the celebration of the sacraments and the preaching of the Word of God. Wearing ecclesiastical attire is also a safeguard for poverty and chastity.
42 comments:
Does this mean Ignotus will stop hanging out at Barnes and Noble in khaki shorts and a polo?
It's always refreshing to see priests wearing some identifiable clerical garb in public. A few weeks ago, I picked up my daughter from a one week program at Christendom College and found a Franciscan brother running laps around the soccer field BAREFOOT in his habit. Now that's dedication.
Glad to read this.
How is this section any different from the previous version?
Pin/Gene - As you have been told, I don't wear polo shirts. You've never seen me at B&N, or anywhere else for that matter, in a polo shirt.
Good luck getting priests to wear cassocks!
And while the cassock may be the "default" garb... "a) wear either the cassock “or suitable ecclesiastical dress, in accordance with the norms established by the Episcopal Conference and legitimate local customs”; when other than the cassock, attire must be different from the way laypersons dress and consonant with the dignity and sanctity of the minister; the style and the colour are to be determined by the Conference of Bishops;
"Suitable ecclesiastical dress" has been, in this country, a black suit with "Roman" collar.
Precisely, Pater Ignotus, and not the Hawaiian shirt.
Ignotus, quit squirming. LOL!
Pin/Gene - Quit making things up....
Ignotus, I know who you are. I know what you look like.
Pin/Gene - So what? You're making up stories to make yourself look good or sound intelligent. FAIL.
"I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy. You can see by my outfit that I'm a cowboy too. We can see by our outfits that we are both cowboys.."
"So get yourself an outfit and be a cowboy too."
(Kingston Trio..."Streets of Laredo")
Must have been your good twin…LOL!
Gene, I'll start wearing a cassock if you stop wearing that dopey hat.
P. Ignotus,
"You're making up stories to make yourself look good or sound intelligent."
That sentence makes no sense, and someone of your superior education should know that. Your chosen type of shirt, whether polo, Hawaiian, or poet, has no bearing on Gene's intelligence, nor does it make him "look good".
I'm semi-joking... maybe... maybe not... I'm not sure, really.
That hat is an Australian Akubra and is kangaroo fur. It is what many of the rangers, etc. wear over there instead of that truly ridiculous Crocodile Dundee thing. My son brought it back to me in '99 from his three month stay in Queensland and Lizard Island for a marine biology practicum. I have worn that thing hiking in woods and mountains, in storms, boiling sun, snow and, occasionally, to casual dressy outdoor
whatever. The thing is tough as iron, and the inside band is just right to stick an emergency folded 20 dollar bill in. Now that you mention it, I may even ask Fr. to bless it. LOL!
Seriously, everybody who spends any time outdoors needs a good hat. I wish men still wore hats( I mean real hats, not these plebeian baseball caps you see everywhere)…they were a practical, dignified, and virile part of the wardrobe.
Anonymous, you would probably have to sneak up on the cassock if you wanted any chance of wearing it...
Ignotus says:
"Good luck getting priests to wear cassocks!"
Then he says:
"Suitable ecclesiastical dress" has been, in this country, a black suit with "Roman" collar.
I reply: Well, most priests in my diocese wear *neither* - accept on weekends when they have to "go to work" (as one retired priest put it to me before going to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass).
Good luck on getting (most?) priests to wear *clerics*, much less a cassock.
1 Sam 15:22: "...to obey is better than sacrifice..."
I wish.
Well, I can honestly say that I don't even own any lay attire. I do not, however, wear a cassock "in the streets", in keeping with the long-standing custom of these United States. Granted, that custom was abrogated in 1998.
Gene, I agree with you about hats. Although I don't wear one, I should because my hair is too short to prevent sunburn on my scalp.
I do have a custom-fitted top hat I was given as a joke/HS graduation gift, but it's really just a novelty item.
I guess if you're a Texan wearing hats wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but I'm not a Texan (yet).
"Good luck getting priests to wear cassocks!"
Oh, I don't think it's going to take much "luck". More and more newly ordained priests, especially younger ones seem to like wearing cassocks. As for the rest, biology will do its job.
Gen...regarding your hat...rather than dignified and virile (LOL), the look seems more juvenile and clownish.
I myself have seen in my own parish priests wearing cassocks instead of the Black suit. The Black suit to me makes the priest look more like a business man rather than a cleric. I am glad the pope reiterated what JPII said in the early eighties about priests and nuns and brothers wearing their cassocks and habits
Anonymous, re: juvenile and clownish. Tell ya' what, if you ever visit Australia, find one of those rangers in a bar and tell him his hat looks juvenile and clownish…better yet, just knock it off his head. LOL!
I'm sure we've all seen Dick Cheney in his cowboy Stetson. Dignified and virile...
Maybe it would be a good thing if all good, practicing Catholics who are in the state of grace wore some distinctive garment. Perhaps we could all get a hat like Gene's...
Wake up and smell the coffee, Eugene. The hat is fine on a genuine Australian ranger. It's the hat ON YOU that is juvenile and clownish. Check Tevye's comment about Dick Cheney. Cowboy hats are for cowboys.
Get yourself a ranger hat and be a ranger too....
The hat I am wearing is not a cowboy hat. You need to get your hat recognition straight. The hat is functional and durable. Everyone should have one…except maybe a beanie for you…LOL!
Speaking of hats, what sort of hat should a priest wear?
"Good luck getting priests to wear cassocks!"
These days, most of the priests I want to frequent for the sacraments are identifiable by their cassocks (at least in church environs), and most of those I don't want to avoid sacramentally are identifiable by informal dress. Perfect system! (For the benefit of those inquiring minds who want to know.)
So far be it from me to encourage cassock-wearing by clerically lax priests who might thereby be mis-identified, thereby confusing those among the faithful who want to know who's whom.
JBS,
What sort of hat should a priest wear?
With the cassock, the only correct headwear would be a biretta (which would generally be worn around the church with cassock or in procession and when seated with vestments if acting as a sacred minister) OR a black saturno (felt or black straw, depending on the season and climate) if the cassock is worn on the street.
With the black suit and clerical collar a black felt fedora or homburg or simple natural straw panama fedora or a boater with a plain black ribbon band would be suitable. The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen and our own late Msgr. Daniel Bourke were wearers of the black homburg, Fr. Zuhlsdorf wears a black fedora and the summer straw would suggest Bing Crosby's priest character in "Going My Way".
As an attorney, I regularly wear a grey felt fedora with black ribbon or a natural straw panama with black ribbon (the felt fedora is a Stetson and, for the panama, see Darcy Clothing Company from the UK).
Here's the deal, Gene....I'll speak very slowly and clearly for you...
Dick Cheney wears a cowboy hat. He's fantasizing that he is a cowboy. He is not a cowboy.
You wear a kangaroo fur hat. You are fantasizing that you are an Australian ranger. You are not an Australian ranger.
Here's your response. "I am not fantasizing anything. It is just a cool hat and I like it."
Here's my response. "Pretend all you like...but you look juvenile and clownish...(not cool)"
That's all.
So when I wore my Detroit Tigers baseball cap earlier, I was pretending to be a baseball player?
Marc....Possibly....likely, subconsciously, although it may depend somewhat upon whether you wear it frontwards or backwards...Sometimes young black guys wear them backwards...It's a hip hop style. Sometimes white guys wear them backwards to keep the sun from their necks...so their necks won't get too red.
Baseball caps are a complicated phenomenon. Do you wear yours indoors...while eating in a restaurant?
Anonymous, no..as usual, you are wrong again. I never think about Australian Rangers. I have had enough experience and intensity in my life that I do not need to fantasize about being anything other than who I am. How about you? I also wear a Tilley hat sometimes and I have a number of baseball caps that I never wear backwards or sideways. People like you have trouble believing that anyone can be genuine…is that possibly because you know that you are not and, therefore cannot imagine anyone else to be, either?
Was that a saturno worn by Fr Guido Sarducci (played by Don Novello)?
It looked like one. Talking about post Vatican II. I read where he once went to the Vatican as Fr Sarducci and was arrested by the Swiss guards and subsequently charged with "impersonating a priest". The charges were eventually dropped.
One of my father’s favorite expressions was “If you can’t fight, wear a big hat.” I am not quite sure what it was supposed to mean (if anything) but it certainly sounded funny. I think he may have said it most often when watching American Westerns on the T.V. when the bad guy(s), wearing a big black hat of course, rode into town.
Perhaps this is just an expression in the U.K.
There is another one similar: "That dude is all hat and no cattle." LOL!
George,
I used to watch "Saturday Night Live" when I was in high school in the late 1970's. That was the era when the Fr. Guido Sarducci character used to appear. I recall that he did always wear a saturno (with a brim which drooped on each side--probably a cheap costume version rather than an authentic one from Gammarelli's, etc.). Even then, I knew that the saturno was a practical outdoor clerical hat meant to be worn with the cassock. As I recall, the Fr. Sarducci character used to wear his with a black clerics' suit, a rather incongruous combination.
George,
I used to watch "Saturday Night Live" when I was in high school in the late 1970's. That was the era when the Fr. Guido Sarducci character used to appear. I recall that he did always wear a saturno (with a brim which drooped on each side--probably a cheap costume version rather than an authentic one from Gammarelli's, etc.). Even then, I knew that the saturno was a practical outdoor clerical hat meant to be worn with the cassock. As I recall, the Fr. Sarducci character used to wear his with a black clerics' suit, a rather incongruous combination.
I always liked his contest: "Finda da Popes ina da pizza."
My brother entered the Franciscans years ago and came home to visit for the first time in 1971. He and I stopped by our parish rectory to say hello - he wearing his habit - and we were greeted at the door by a young priest who looked at my brother and blurted out, "You can't wear that on the street!" (In New York city where he was stationed, the friars DID wear their habits on the street.) The next day we attended Mass, and after Mass the pastor, an older man, greeted us on the way out, saying to my brother with all seriousness, "I wouldn't wear that here again, you know, you might frighten people." Seriously? The habit of St. Francis? This wasn't a crazy liberal parish by the way, it was "average" for the time.
5 years later good ole Frankie Baby mocks and ridicules priest who wear the cassock
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