Why I Wear the Roman Collar (Most of the Time)

Two anecdotes:

Holy Rosary Parish has an adoration chapel that is attached to the residence where the Salesians live.  There is a small vestibule between the residence and the chapel, and the hours the Blessed Sacrament is exposed intersects the community prayer times, so it is common for members of the public to be with us as we pray, or to run into people coming or going in the hall.  There is one regular, an Irish lady, very devout, who is unafraid to tell you what she thinks, though always in a very pleasant manner.  It was an afternoon just before evening prayer and I had no responsibilities down the hill that night, so I had changed out of my clerical shirt into "civies," as we call them.  This lady stopped me at the door of the chapel and said, "Father, where is your Holy Collar?  I told you, you should always wear the Holy Collar!" Being tired, and in no mood to argue, I replied, politely mind you, "It's in the holy laundry." She protested, a bit frustrated with my flippant response, but I kept on moving into the chapel for evening prayer.

Anecdote Number Two: A friend of mine who is assigned to a high school was flying home for the Easter break, wearing his clerical shirt.  The lady sitting next to him on the plane was unimpressed, and in fact was quite hostile.  She said that he should be ashamed of himself wearing such a thing, considering the horrible things priests have done.  This lady went on to proclaim an unholy litany of crimes and mortal sins committed by members of the Catholic clergy over the years.  Fr. Matt, a far better man than I, in his typical passionate but charitable way told the lady, "I share your hurt and burn with the very same indignation. However, just as every officer doesn't abuse authority given or every teacher violate the trust of their students, so not every priest commits scandal."  I'm not sure that answer satisfied her, but it was more thoughtful and measured than I would have come up with on the spot.

I do wear the Roman collar regularly.  Certainly any time I'm ministering publicly, and usually, though not always, when I travel (I would say that more an more I choose to when traveling by air).  If I am around the house, out with friends or family, or simply running out to the Shoprite for milk I usually don't wear it, or at least I won't go out of my way to, unless the function calls for formal attire.  There are priests who wear it all the time, under every circumstance.  Others hardly wear it at all.  I guess if I were to pick an extreme, it would be toward the "wearing it too much" side, though I've always been a fan of moderation. There is a movement toward abandoning clerical dress among priests, and I think it a mistake.  Many priests don't don the collar because they see it as something that sets a barrier between themselves and the people; that it promotes a class system that Jesus would have rejected.  Is clericalism a danger? Sure it is.  But I encountered plenty of clericalism in my travels through Latin America and the vast majority of priests wear lay clothing there.  Clericalism has no dress code, so I wear it with absolutely no concern that people think that I'm putting on airs.

I wear it because symbols are important, and Catholicism relies heavily on symbols to get it's message across.  The collar is a symbol: it is the symbol of a public commitment to the Gospel.  It is a symbol of the simplicity of life I have been called to; there is no wasting time deciding what tie matches which shirt in the morning.  The black shirt symbolizes mortality, that I am to witness to the transience of life and that my heart is set on the world to come (this is a reason I reject colored clericals, though there are certainly good reasons to wear lighter colors, especially in the heat of summer).  Most of all it shows that there are still men following the call in an age of unbelief.  Is there a chance that the sight of the Holy Collar could stir up negative emotions in some people who have had bad experiences in the past?  Yes.  Nonetheless it's worth the risk if it reaches others positively.  If someone does have a negative reaction, like that woman had with Fr. Matt, it opens up an opportunity to share and change hearts that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.     

Parenthetically, I know and work with religious sisters who are very dedicated and faithful.  But I do believe it was a mistake for many of them to abandon the habit; not because a piece of cloth makes them better religious, but because they lost the ability to be public symbols of something larger than themselves.  I do wonder if rejecting the habit did something to exacerbate the vocation crisis; with so many religious, both men and women, out of sight, are they also out of mind to the public as well, especially to young people?  Does a habit for sisters have to include a veil (the question is not rhetorical, I really want to know)?  In Mexico many sisters wear distinctive cloths that clearly identify them as religious that do not include a veil.  It's a complex issue, I know, and my intent is not to finger point or condemn, simply to raise the question.

As I wrote above, there are those who object to the wearing of a habit or clerical clothing by priests and religious, but most of those who object are priests and religious.  I have never heard a parishioner, a student, or a lay colleague complain that we wear the collar too much, or that they feel somehow alienated by it.  Many will complain when we don't, and some are scandalized if our dress is a little too worldly.  Are there times when "dressing down" is acceptable?  Of course; even Bl. John Paul II wore "regular" cloths, including shorts, when he went camping.  On a regular basis though priests and religious do a greater service than they know by wearing their habit or clerical clothing, particularly when they're "on duty."  It is a way to preach without ever opening your mouth. 

Bishop Wojtyła kicking back with some friends, sans cassock