PAPAL CEREMONY AND VESTURE

As supreme head of the universal Church, the pope can officiate in any existing liturgical rite, Eastern or Western. However, as bishop of Rome, he regularly celebrates according to the Roman Rite.

Ceremonial. While the ritual he observes is that followed by all archbishops, there are nonetheless many ceremonies special to the pope.

The Papal Pontifical Mass. In a pontifical mass, the pope wears several vestments, as explained below; the college of cardinals and bishops or abbots attending Mass are vested in cope or chasuble (the cardinal deacons in dalmatics), and all wear the white miter. Historically, the first part of the papal mass was the solemn entry of the pope, carried on the sedes gestatoria and wearing his great mantle and the tiara, both of which have fallen into disuse. The Liturgy of the Word of the papal mass closely follows closely the rite of a bishop's pontifical Mass in his own cathedral. The special rite in this part of the Mass is the chanting of the Gospel in Latin and Greek.

During the papal mass, there is one very particular rite, which has never been allowed in any other diocese or rite, that is, the pope's Communion at his throne.

Canonization. Until the time of Pius XII the ceremony was quite long. The Ave Maris Stella was sung during the procession into St. Peter's Basilica behind the banner of the servant of God. Upon arrival before the papal throne, the postulator of the cause knelt before the pontiff and asked instanter (urgently) the canonization; the Litany of the Saints followed. Again the postulator approached the throne and requested instantius (more urgently) for the glorification of the servant of God; the Veni Creator was then sung. For a third time the postulator went to the pope and begged instantissime (most urgently). At this the pontiff read the declaration of canonization. The Te Deum concluded this part of the rite.

However, in order to abbreviate the ceremony Pius XII had the Litany of the Saints chanted during the procession into the basilica; the three petitions were joined into one followed by the Veni Creator and the declaration. In the Mass that follows there is a solemn procession with offerings of candles, wine, bread, and doves. The first report of such an offertory procession comes from the canonization of St. Bridget of Sweden, which took place in 1391.

Other Rites. The pope also reserves to himself the opening and closing of ecumenical councils, the opening of the Holy Doors in jubilee years, the blessing of the archbishop's pallium, the blessing of the golden rose that he offers from time to time as a gift to some personality or sanctuary.

Vesture. The pope has two kinds of vesture: the prelatial, or nonliturgical, and liturgical.

Prelatial Dress. This is very simple. In his daily life he wears a white cassock or simar, with the small humeral cape and oversleeves that go with it; a white silk sash; and a zucchetto to match. In cold weather the pope wears a long cloak of red wool, called a mantello, and a red hat with gold trimmings. For receptions the pope wears a long linen rochet, usually ornamented with lace, and over it the mozzetta or humeral cape, which, in summer is of red satin, and in winter of red velvet, with ermine trimmings. During Eastertide the mozzetta and shoes are of white satin. With the red velvet mozzetta the pope wears, instead of the white skull cap, a papal biretta, called camauro, made to match the mozzetta. According to the best traditions, when wearing the mozzetta, the pope wears the pectoral cross under it and over the rochet. Although the use of a white cassock goes back many centuries, the papal color is red and that is the reason mozzetta, camauro, shoes, mantello, and hat are always red, except during Eastertide.

Liturgical Vestments. Besides the pontifical vestments worn by all archbishops, historically the pope has two vestments that are proper, or reserved, to him, viz, the fanon and the subcinctorium (below the girdle).

The subcinctorium took the form of a maniple of the same width from top to bottom and is ornamented with an Agnus Dei at the lower end. It is attached to a special girdle and hangs on the pope's right side. The subcinctorium has now no practical meaning. Up to the 13th century it was commonly worn by all bishops, and St. Charles Borromeo tried to reintroduce its use in the ambrosian rite as a pontifical vestment. The subcinctorium is closely related also to the Greek epigonation: a lozenge-shaped piece of stiff, embroidered material attached to the girdle and worn as part of pontifical dress. Both the vestments were originally related to the maniple, which was a towel or handkerchief, usually attached to the waist of the garment, and for hygienic use.

The falda, worn by some popes and fallen into disuse, is not strictly a vestment, but a white flowing robe with a train that falls around the feet. When used, it is placed over the rochet. Since the falda is so long, it must be lifted by assistants whenever the pope walks during ceremonies. The diaries of Alexander VI (d. 1503) speak of it as a papal ornament, but there is no agreement regarding its origin or significance.

The pope's cope or great mantle is like any other cope, except that it is either white or red. He wears the cope at solemn entries, before he vests for Mass, and when he is present, vested, at his throne.

Bibliography: p. salmon, Étude sur les insignes du pontife dans le rit romain (Rome 1955). r. lesage, Vestments and Church Furniture, tr. f. murphy (New York 1960). t. klauser, Der Ursprung der bischöflichen Insignien und Ehrenrechte (2d ed. Krefeld 1953). m. dykmans, Le cérémonial papal de la fin du Moyen Age à la Renaissance (Brussels, 1977). j.-c. noonan, The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church (New York 1996). s. twyman, Papal Ceremonial at Rome in the Twelfth Century (London 2002).

[j. nabuco/eds.]