Mantelletta

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Mantelletta

A mantelletta, Italian diminutive of Latin mantellum 'mantle', is a sleeveless, knee-length, vest-like garment, open in front, with slits instead of sleeves on the sides, fastened at the neck, once even more common than the mozzetta

Mozzetta

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Mozzetta

History

The mantelletta is probably connected with the mantellum of the Cardinals in the "Ordo" of Gregory X (1271-1276) and with the mantellum of the Prelates in the "Ordo" of Petrus Amelius (d. 1401), which was a vestment similar to a scapular

Scapular

A scapular is a Christian Sacramental, consisting of a length of cloth suspended both front and back from the shoulders of the wearer, that varies in shape, colour, size and style depending on the use to which it is being put, namely whether in Christian Monk or in Christian devotion....
. Before 1969, it was worn instead of the mozzetta

Mozzetta

Rochet

A rochet is a vestment generally worn by a Roman Catholic or Anglican Bishop in choir dress. It is unknown in the Eastern Churches. The rochet is similar to a surplice, except that the sleeves are narrower....
by any bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
outside his place of jurisdiction. A symbol of prelacy, but also of limitation, it was therefore always worn by auxiliary bishops (who were never in their own dioceses), by an archbishop

Archbishop

In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case....
only when outside of his province, and by a bishop only when outside of his diocese - within their own areas of jurisdiction they wore the mozzetta instead. The mantelletta was also worn by cardinals (who wore it under the mozzetta) only when in the City of Rome, as a symbol of the cardinal's rank throughout the church (hence they wore only the mozzetta even outside their own dioceses), but in deference to the pope's authority when in his home diocese (thus the only place where they wore the mantelletta).

It was likewise ordinary choir dress for several classes of monsignor

Monsignor

Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles....
, the so-called prelates di manteletta: the protonotaries apostolic de numero

Protonotary apostolic

In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside of Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges....
(the highest class of monsignor), domestic prelates (now called "prelates of honor") who are also addressed as "monsignor," and others who had been granted the privilege to wear it, including auditors of the Sacred Roman Rota and a few other high functionaries of the Vatican if they were not bishops. Certain chapters of canons

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christianity clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule .Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergyhouse or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct or close of a cathedral and ordering his life according to the orders or rules of the church....
have also been specifically granted the privilege.

The colour for Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior Ecclesiology official, usually a Bishop , of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope....
s was ordinarily red, in penitential seasons and for times of mourning it was violet, on Gaudete

Gaudete

"Gaudete" is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in the Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finland/Sweden sacred songs published in 1582....
and Laetare Sundays rose-colour; for the other dignitaries, the same distinctions being made, the colour was violet or black with a violet border. Cardinals and Bishops belonging to orders which have a distinctive dress, also Abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
s who are entitled to wear the mantelletta, retain for it the colour of the habit of the order (gray for Franciscans, black for Dominicans, white for Cistercians, etc.). The vestment was made of silk only when it is worn by cardinals or by bishops or prelates belonging to the papal court.

Under reforms enacted by Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and monarch of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978....
and specified by an instruction of the Secretariat of State

Secretariat of State (Vatican)

The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the government of the Roman Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, and performs all the political and diplomatic functions of Vatican City and the Holy See....
in 1969, the mantelletta was abolished for cardinals and bishops, who now wear the mozzetta

Mozzetta

The mozzetta is a short elbow-length cape that covers the shoulders and is buttoned over the breast. It is worn as part of choir dress by some of the clergy of the Catholic Church, among them the Pope, cardinal s, bishops, abbots, canons and religious superiors....
when appropriate. The violet mantelletta is no longer used except by a handful of prelates who reside in Rome, primarily the seven remaining Apostolic Protonotaries de numero and a few superior prelates of the offices of the Roman Curia if they are not bishops. It is now effectively a garment of the diocese of Rome; other monsignors do not use it. According to Noonan, the proper color of the mantelletta for chapters of canons who still wear it is grey or black with colored trim.

Mantellone

The mantellone differed from the mantelletta by being longer (reaching to the floor) and having wing-like sleeves and was not worn with the rochet. The mantellone was formerly used by prelates of the lowest rank, the papal chamberlain

Papal chamberlain

Papal chamberlain was one of the highest honours that could be bestowed on a Catholic layman by the Pope, and was often given to members of nobility families....
s or privy chaplains (now called "Chaplain of Honor"). It was abolished by Pope Paul VI.

Sources and references

- Paul VI. "On the Papal Household." On the Papal Household, Reform of the Use of Pontifical Insignia, Simplification of Pontifical Rites and Insignia. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1968.
"Instruction on the dress, titles and coat-of-arms of cardinals, bishops and lesser prelates." L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano

L'Osservatore Romano is the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See. It covers all the Pope's public activities, publishes editorials by important churchmen, and runs official documents after being released....
, English ed. 17 Apr. 1969: 4. ISSN 0391-668X. Online at

Mantelletta

History

Mantellone

Sources and references

External links