Monday, January 08, 2007

The episcopal biretta...


Everyone loves a nice biretta and so here's a nice episcopal biretta pic for the blogosphere...
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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who his His Excellency on this picture?

He seems awfully young to be bishop - must be at least 35, though ;-)

5:10 AM
Anonymous said...

Who is that man, someone bound for a diplomatic position in a forsaken province in Gwuarkacengo?
Further info wished for.

6:11 AM
Anonymous said...

Where's the pom-pom?

7:32 AM
Anonymous said...

Yes, the lack of pom-pom makes me think this is not actually a bishop...

Interesting vestiture also, the black overcoat over choir dress.

7:34 AM
Anonymous said...

My guess is he's just serving dressed in the choir cassock of a bishop; he could then be serving as master of ceremonies at an important liturgy in the Vatican.
The overcoat doesn't quite match, so the man is probably just walking across the courtyard with the surplice (?) showing.

10:15 AM
Anonymous said...

Scott is right (as always). AND, the tailoring is probably not Roman because the piping is paonazza and not red. Prelates (of honour and otherwise) have red piping and lining to both the abito piano and the abito corale. It can't be papal MC with incorrect piping and a bishop's biretta WITHOUT pom-pom. As we know, there are all sorts of people wandering around Rome. Who took the picture and when?

11:48 AM
Anonymous said...

Until the owner of the blog cares to look things up (mr. Sonnen took the picture if I'm not mistaken), we can continue speculating.
I've never got the piping details thoroughly explained to me, but as things have been in the Church for decades - who's to say for certain what really is when things of varying importance have been disregarded or confused for so long?

12:10 PM
Anonymous said...

I have NEVER seen such piping on a Roman-made cassock. This "matching" piping is typical of american-style cassocks.

Who... the Law of the Church, which regulates prelatial vesture. No Roman ecclesiastical taylor would make such a cassock. As for the biretta, he may have simply removed the pom-pom.

What could John have "looked up" about this photo? Significant enough that such a photo has been put on the web, provoking our discussion.

2:34 PM
Anonymous said...

The man is a prelate of honour, not a bishop.

2:08 AM
John Paul Sonnen said...

i took the photo of this guy while we were leaving the vatican basilica after vespers with the pope on new years eve. i just figured he was some poser as he's surely too young to be a bishop...

3:36 AM
Anonymous said...

I think you're right, John.

BTW, prelates of honour wear black birettas with black pom-poms. Protonotaries Apostolic de numero can wear an amarath-red pom pom on their BLACK birettas. Paonazza birettas are only for bishops. Ergo, he is not DRESSED as a prelate of honour.
In ogni caso, the piping is still wrong. and the jacket...?!

4:16 AM
John Paul Sonnen said...

foolish child forgot to wear his greca...somebody in the blogosphere surely is going to know this guy...hilarious!

4:19 AM
Anonymous said...

I suspect that this very handsome cleric is a prefect of ceremonies as his vesture suggests. As to his colourful biretta, perhaps he has the right to wear it under some ancient but little used indult. No doubt it was cold after vespers and he right put on an overcoat.

10:08 PM
Pete said...

According to the 1888 "Praeclaro divinae gratiae" of Leo XIII, bishops, archbishops and patriarchs must wear a purple biretta. All lesser prelates have to wear a black biretta with either a red or a purple tuft according to their rank.

This man cannot be a bishop. You will never see a bishop wearing a biretta without a tuft. The piping on his cassock is pink rather than red, though the top button looks red.

6:40 AM
Unknown said...

it seems to be episcopal livery i.e. one who has no true choir cassock of which to speak, acting as MC for the bishop is entitled to wear a cassock such as this, the biretta, maybe he felt left out so decided for this rather fetching biretta

11:04 AM
Anonymous said...

He may be a student at a Roman college. Students wearing a similar cassock served the Papal Mass for the opening of the Holy Door on 8 December 2015.

7:13 AM

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