off duty

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Feb 21, 2005

Commenting on Dom's blog, Patrick Sweeney makes an interesting point.

I think there's a culture evident in some priests of a "secret identity" they assume by dressing in non-clerical clothing and going to an area where they are not recognized as a priest, but taken for just another middle-aged guy.

Remember that Florida bishop with a fondness for places where "he could take off his collar and just be Bob"?

[postscript:] Picking up on the same discussion at the Catholic Light blog, in response to the suggestion that priests in uniform are often vexed by the unwanted attentions of loons, commentor Fr. JP adds this:

Our saintly rector at Mt St Mary's, Msgr Roeltgen, used to say, "If it can't be done with a collar on, it's something that you shouldn't be doing anyway."

Aside from the obvious exceptions like showering, I find that to be good advice. I'm sorry that your friar friend was besieged by nuts, but that is part of the mortification that goes with the habit. Habits are not supposed to be comfortable, either physically or socially. Weirdos latch on to me all the time, since I always wear my cassock in public. C'est la vie. It is an unwarranted aggravation for you, I concede, but it is part of your friar friend's life. He wears it precisely because it is a burden, as well as a sign and witness.