The Clothes Make the Man
Among a few small groups in the church, religious clothes are returning. They may be returning not as religious signs but as distractions from faith and ministry. Sashes and birettas, chains and large crosses, amices and maniples, special gloves and shoes have reappeared. Restorationist and reactionary groups tend to have striking clothes just as dictatorships have uniforms.
My pastor, who wears vestments, says many of these guys sound like father but are dressed up like mother.
ReplyDeletetheoldadam
All traditional clothing born in cultures alien to modern Western ones will look strange. Medieval clothing was rich and varied--even if some of it was the result of opulence and vanity, a sort of "soft" oppression used by the elite to differentiate themselves from the poor.
ReplyDeleteFrom what little I've read on the subject, Benedict's deliberate choice of clothing is as much a symbol of what he hopes to accomplish during his reign as a fashion choice.
But what does that have to do with dictators? The modern papacy is so far from any sort of dictator that if there is a joke in here, it will inflame rather than entertain.
My life hasn't permitted me to follow Triablogue as often as usual. Does this sort of thing get posted regularly?
Matthew, the quote and photos are from an NCR article. I'm working up some stuff on the medieval papacy, and this just caught my eye. From their point of view, of course, the Curia et all are seeming to become more "conservative", and hence more dictatorial. That's the connection.
DeletePart of the "blueprint for anarchy" series.
"The modern papacy is so far from any sort of dictator that if there is a joke in here, it will inflame rather than entertain."
ReplyDeleteWell if there's one thing that the papacy is familiar with, it's setting people on fire.
That cleric probably likes to tap his heels together three times and think "There's no place like Rome. There's no place like Rome..."
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