simple servants and marked men

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Dec 22, 2005

A Christian Brother in Philadelphia explains why he's switched to wearing civvies.

Twenty years ago, Brian Henderson wore his full habit more, well, habitually as a clear sign he was a cleric. Now, the Southwest Philly native, who last spring celebrated his 25th year as a member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, says the crisis in the Catholic Church has left many priests and Brothers embarrassed to wear their collars.

While Henderson usually wears a collared shirt, sweater and khakis, his preference for casual clothing isn't a betrayal of his religious life. The Brothers' unique habit -- a judgelike black robe with a wide, white collar -- just isn't part of the persona he wants to portray. Instead, Henderson, 46, wants to play the simple servant. What he definitely doesn't want for himself, or any member of his 325-year-old religious order, is to be lumped in with the priests.

While I can sympathize with Henderson's reluctance to target onto himself the ignominy associated with child molester priests, I don't think this is the way to go. In tough times -- and these must be tough times for Catholics in Philly -- a small act of defiance like wearing clerical garb would give heart to the folks you want to give heart to, and antagonize the people whose antipathy is beyond your control.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with khakis and a sweater, obviously, but to me it conveys little of the "simple servant" and instead appears to be a kind of camouflage. It speaks of a challenge ducked instead of a challenge confronted. Spiritual writers such as Thomas à Kempis urge us to pray for humiliations as a means of spiritual growth. I confess I've never managed myself to utter such a prayer with conviction, but there's no denying that a humiliation handed to clergymen on a platter, so to speak, might be accepted with profit if not enthusiasm. One could compare the roman collar, in the case of an innocent priest, to the yellow Star of David some Danish Christians wore in solidarity with the Jews during the Nazi occupation. And of course the stakes are much smaller in the present circumstances.

Leila brought up a further aspect of the problem two years ago. As opposed to the manner of predation that went on in the 1950s and '60s, very little of the contemporary clerical misbehavior is likely to be committed by a man actually wearing a cassock and roman collar. There a certain dangers from which a marked man, like it or not, is especially well protected.