From the Catholic Herald:
The Pope has honoured three former Anglican bishops, the first members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, with the title of monsignor.
Fr Keith Newton, the leader of the Ordinariate who has most of the functions of a bishop, has been granted the papal award of Apostolic Pronotary, the highest ecclesial title for non-bishops. Fr Andrew Burnham, the former Bishop of Ebbsfleet, and Fr John Broadhurst, the former Bishop of Fulham, have been granted the papal award of Prelate of Honour, and are therefore also monsignori.
The three former bishops receive honor upon honor from their new leader, Pope Benedict. One is even an Apostlic Pronotary. Imagine being a pronotary! But they're still not bishops.
These high papal officials are the highest class of Monsignor, are often raised directly to the cardinalate, and hold distinctive privileges in address and attire....They are addressed formally as "most reverend monsignor," and they wear the mantelletta, the purple choir cassock, the biretta with red tuft, and rochet for liturgical services, the black cassock with red piping and purple sash at other times, and may add the purple ferraiuolo to the black cassock for formal ceremonies of a non-liturgical nature, e.g., a graduation.
From Wikipedia.
I hope the lower classes of the ordinariate take note of the proper manner of address for their newly-named pronotory. How likely is it that that the Most Rev Monsignor Keith Newton will be raised to the cardinalate? Not very, in my humble opinion. And a biretta with a red tuft is not a mitre.
And what about the Roman Catholic priests who must serve for years before being named monsignors?
Thanks to Ann V. for the link.
...and it looks like they are vested as deacons.....
ReplyDeletemargaret, it does, indeed.
ReplyDeleteDeacons, indeed, but imagine man lace WITH a red-tufted biretta! Sets the heart atwitter, and all for the service of Jesus the Christ.
ReplyDelete...WITH a red-tufted biretta! Sets the heart atwitter....
ReplyDeleteEspecially if we refer to the tuft thingy as a pom-pom.
I think the rules are that married clergy joining the RC church may not become bishops...and certainly not cardinals.
ReplyDeleteBex, you are correct. Of course, the pope can change the rules, but he won't. What a hornet's nest he'd stir up if he appointed a married cardinal.
ReplyDeleteI believe this picture was from when they were received by the Bishop in London, and they were indeed made RC deacons at that time. My how they have come up in the church!!
ReplyDeleteAnd now I see that this picture is captioned "The three former Anglican bishops at their ordination to the priesthood in January (Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)" So they were dressed as deacons and then became priests(again!) And so I continue to say, My haw they have comeup in the church!!
ReplyDeleteSusan, it is. I don't know why this picture is included with the article in the CH on the monsignors.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably the only one they had of the 3 in a fairly humble state, although the chin in the middle looks pretty bored and un-humble
ReplyDeleteMimi, having just finished reading your generous present of Monsignor Quixote, which as I mentioned I really loved, it irritates me more than I can say that these three pretenders have just been (quite unjustly, as far as I can see) been given the same title.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I understand. And them no more than parvenus who couldn't come near to Monsignor Quixote. It's not right.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Chair of the Pedantry Department comes the following correction: The title is "Protonotary Apostolic", not "Pronotary Apostolic" as the article has it. In actuality, they are "Protonotaries Apostolic supernumerary". Their privileges include such things as wearing nice purple trimmed cassocks and black birettas with purple pom-poms on top. At one time (perhaps still) protonotaries apostolic supernumerary also had the privilege of celebrating a pontifical mass four times a year, wearing a mitre and pectoral cross but no ring. Any Anglo-Catholic priest who swum the Tiber and was given this title and all its privileges would have to change his knickers, such would be his delight.
ReplyDeleteI used to know a joke about protonotaries apostolic but I've forgotten it now. Rats! Just when something could be useful it drops out of your memory.
Chris, if you check the same dictionaries that I did, you will see that the spelling varies, with "protonotary" as the preferred.
ReplyDeleteI wish you could remember your joke. We are all the poorer for you memory lapse.
I forgot, I _do_ know a funny story about Monsignors.
ReplyDeleteWay way back when Franny Spellman minced his way around New York, he would go to Dunwoodie Seminary (where I spent 2-1/2 years, long after his time, tho) to do a visitation every year. And, at the end of Evensong, he would walk behind the lectern and stand on tiptoes so he could be seen and announce that a faculty member who was not yet a Monsignor was going to be given that august honour. As this went in strict order of seniority, everyone knew who was next in line.
One year he slipped up, and announced the name of Fr. Austin "Arkie" Vaughan as the next Monsignor in line. Arkie had a nervous tic, and when his name was read out he started to shake and tic so violently that the seminarians thought he was going to fall off the choir stall. Someone whispered to Spelly that he's tapped the wrong priest and the Cardinal graciously made both Arkie and the priest who should have gotten it Monsignors.
Another funny Monsignor story to do with Spellman. Years ago one could assume that most priests over the age of 60 were Monsignori. A priest close to the threescore and ten was introduced to the Cardinal, who addressed him as "Monsignor". The priest (who was from Canada) replied, "Your Eminence, I'm not a Monsignor." Spelly was so embarrassed that he called the priest's bishop and asked him to make the priest a Monsignor anyway.
And, of course, no post on Monsignors would be complete without pointing out that "monsignor" means "My Lord," which is appropriate in this case, as when I heard of their signal good fortune, I thought, "My Lord, why them?"
Jokes about protonotaries apostolic, not something you hear every day, eh.
ReplyDelete"Parvenus" - that is the exact word, Mimi.
... "monsignor" means "My Lord," which is appropriate in this case, as when I heard of their signal good fortune, I thought, "My Lord, why them?"
ReplyDeleteChris, also exactly right.
LOL, Chris!!!
ReplyDeleteThe "chin in the middle" is Andrew Burnham, a man seldom encountered in the same sentence as "humble", Susan.
ReplyDeleteEpiscopal consecration is now a pre-requisite for cardinal's rank, so their wives would first need to join the "choir invisibule". Cardinal Mazarin, never in major orders, would not make the cut nowadays.
Episcopal consecration is now a pre-requisite for cardinal's rank, so their wives would first need to join the "choir invisibule". Cardinal Mazarin, never in major orders, would not make the cut nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThis is only partially true. Those over 80 years old who are bestowed with a red hat, if not bishops, may forego consecration. So the late Avery Dulles, SJ, cardinalled for his work as a theologian (and not because he was a relative of John Foster Dulles) was over 80 and was not required to be ordained a bishop.
So if the three Stooges...er...Protonotaries Apostolic make it to age 80, they could theoretically be made Cardinals without episcopal ordination. One wonders, though, what their wives would be called. "Mrs. Cardinal"?
I suppose that now when one invites the Prelate of the Ordinariate to a dinner party, accompanied by his wife, one would address the invitation to "Monsignor and Mrs."
And I suppose the wives should go shopping for black dresses with red trim.
Old duffers.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that the new monsignors can now look forward to being even better dressed than their wives at formal occasions.
ReplyDeleteI know that the Popoids are anti-Masonic . . . but w/ all the dumb-@ss titles, is there really any difference?
ReplyDeleteChris, you're a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge on apostolic protonotaries.
ReplyDeleteChris and Counterlight, if the guys can wear red, why not the gals? Red trim on black just won't do it.
Oh, and thank you for your stories of Cardinal Spellman and the monsignors, Chris.
ReplyDeleteWasn't John Henry Newman elevated to cardinal without having been a bishop?
According to Fr. Ron Smith, a priest in Christchurch, NZ, who blogs as "Kiwianglo," the photograph was taken in January during their ordination to the priesthood. This explains why they were vested as deacons.
ReplyDeleteI wish these men God's blessing on their spiritual journey. Personally, I can't follow them until there's a significant gesture of good faith on the part of the Roman Catholic Church, like its adoption of the 39 Articles.
I know that the Popoids are anti-Masonic . . . but w/ all the dumb-@ss titles, is there really any difference?
ReplyDeleteThere is a big difference. There is no Masonic Pope, no Masonic College of Cardinals, no requirement that one believe any particular religious belief as long as one believes in a Supreme Being.
Yes, there are many titles in Freemasonry, and there are some who enjoy getting purple-trimmed aprons, collars with big insignia hanging from them, and a Most, Very, or Right before the Worshipful part of their title. But the best title in Freemasonry is "Brother". It's such a good title that even the Women Freemasons use it.
W. Bro. Chris Hansen, WM
Goliath Lodge #5595 UGLE but writing in a personal capacity.
Red dresses are provocative, I am given to believe. Mrs. Monsignor would not be comfortable in stirring up the hormones of her husband's fellow clergy.
ReplyDeleteWasn't John Henry Newman elevated to cardinal without having been a bishop?
ReplyDeleteThere are three subspecies of the genus Cardinalis. Cardinalis Diaconus, Cardinalis Presbyter, et Cardinalis Episcopus. (Cardinal Deacon, Cardinal Priest, and Cardinal Bishop). For more information about Cardinals than any Protestant might want to know, see the Wikipedia article.
Newman was a Cardinal Deacon, but was in priestly orders.
Cardinals do not have pompoms on their birettas. They know how silly pompoms look, yet they continue to inflict them on all lesser beings.
ReplyDeleteThe wives of the cardinals should wear neither black dresses with red trim nor all red dresses, but rather a subtle dull red-brown shade.
ReplyDeletewv = veriti
(it's true!)
Those guys are vested as deacons, which means they've been promoted!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I see that y'all have been minding the store while I was away. Thanks a bunch.
ReplyDeletePaul Powers, when the RCC accepts the 39 articles, that will indeed be a huge gesture of good faith. We may all follow the prelates over to the ordinariates.
I have a question for you, Chris. Are not red dresses provocative when men wear them, especially when worn with lace?
Thanks for the fashion advice, Paul (A.). I'll share it with the very next cardinal wife's that I meet.
I have a question for you, Chris. Are not red dresses provocative when men wear them, especially when worn with lace?
ReplyDeleteWell, I've never seen a Cardinal whom I felt attracted to.
I do have another Spellman story that might apply here. Spelly had a coterie of little old rich ladies whom he cultivated: he had them over for tea or dinner. Probably had something to do with legacies.
In any case, one day they had perhaps been nipping at the sherry a bit more than was prudent for a Cardinal or little old ladies and Spelly said, "Let me show you something that you've never seen before." and he led them to his wardrobe and opened a drawer to reveal his boxer shorts. Yes, you guessed it, white trimmed with red.
My informant knew one of the little old ladies and swears it's true. It's actually too bizarre to be made up.
And I have another friend who used to be a bartender in a gay leather bar in Berlin. He would regularly see the late Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago waltz in with a coterie of young men, all dressed head to toe in black leather. Presumably red leather was felt to be a bit OTT. My friend presumed that the young men were actually young priests; I certainly hope so.
Well, I've never seen a Cardinal whom I felt attracted to.
ReplyDeleteNor have I, Chris.
Gee. Lotsa old Spellman stories percolatin'.
Grandmère Mimi, I've got a few more. But I'm too tired to tell them tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
ReplyDelete