{"id":904,"date":"2009-03-19T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/03\/habit-forming-2.html"},"modified":"2009-03-19T20:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T20:01:00","slug":"habit-forming-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/03\/habit-forming-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Habit-forming"},"content":{"rendered":"

A priest sent this<\/a> my way — an interesting item from Fr. Z on the fashion statement of the priesthood (along with some mild criticism from the always-smartly-dressed pontiff). <\/p>\n

The original news story, from ANSA<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/a>Priests are under pressure to smarten up their wardrobes after Pope Benedict XVI made an apparent dig at members of the clergy who have been dressing rather too casually.<\/p>\n

Declaring a ‘year of the priest’ that will begin on June 19 in a bid to encourage ”spiritual perfection” among clerics, the pope stressed that priests should be ”present, identifiable and recognisable for their faith, their personal virtues and their attire”.<\/p>\n

According to Naples-based ecclesiastical outfitters Mastranzo, the pontiff has a point.<\/p>\n

”Around 30% of priests dress in a (casual) scruffy manner and don’t even pay attention to the colour of their clothes,” a spokesman told Italian daily La Repubblica.<\/p>\n

Of the remaining better-dressed clerics, around 40% opt for the black trousers, jacket and shirt with a dog collar combination, while the remaining 30% choose to wear ankle-length cassocks, which should be topped with a tri-crested hat.<\/p>\n

Mastranzo said that there has been a recent upturn in requests for cassocks, which are especially favoured by religious members of the Opus Dei and the Legion of Christ orders.<\/p>\n

Bardiconi, an outfitters in Rome, said the tradition-loving pontiff’s influence has already made itself felt among customers.<\/p>\n

”With the new pope we had already noted a certain return to the classic look and a drop in casual clothes,” it said.<\/p>\n

Sales of cassocks have been going up at Easter and Christmas, according to the shop, which said that a good cassock could last a priest ”up to 20 years”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A priest sent this my way — an interesting item from Fr. Z on the fashion statement of the priesthood (along with some mild criticism from the always-smartly-dressed pontiff). The original news story, from ANSA: Priests are under pressure to smarten up their wardrobes after Pope Benedict XVI made an apparent dig at members of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-and-that","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nHabit-forming - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/03\/habit-forming-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Habit-forming - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A priest sent this my way — an interesting item from Fr. 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