Mozzetta

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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

Choir dress

Choir dress is the vesture of the clerics, seminarys and religious order of traditional church es worn for public prayer, either apart from the eucharist or by those attending the eucharist as the clergy part of the congregation rather than as the celebrants....
by some of the clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from the Greek language ?????? - kleros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "heritage"....
of the Catholic Church, among them the Pope

Pope

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, 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....
s, 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, canons and religious superiors. It used to have a small hood on the back on the mozzette of bishops and cardinals but this was discontinued 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....
; however, the hood was retained in the mozzette of certain canons and abbots, and also in the Popes'.

color of the mozzetta, which is always worn with a cassock

Cassock

The cassock, an item of clerical clothing, is a long, close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, and some clerics of the Reformed, and Lutheran churches....
and sometimes other choral vestments, represents the hierarchical rank of the person wearing it.

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Colour

The color of the mozzetta, which is always worn with a cassock

Cassock

Scarlet (color)

Scarlet is a red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange . It is a pure Chrominance on the color wheel. It is redder than vermilion....
mozzetta, while Bishops and those with equivalent jurisdiction (territorial abbot

Territorial abbot

A territorial abbot or abbot nullius heads a territorial abbey or territorial abbacy, which is a type of particular church within the Catholic Church....
s, territorial prelates, vicars apostolic if not bishops) wear a purple

Purple

Purple is a general term for the range of shades of color occurring between red and blue. It occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions, with possibly a very small quantity of the third primary color ....
mozzetta. Rectors of basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a ancient Rome public building , usually located in the Forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC....
s and some canon

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....
s wear a black mozzetta with red piping and buttons. Since they seldom wear cassocks in the street, most other secular priests do not now wear the mozzetta. Some religious orders have a mozzetta as part of their religious habit

Religious habit

A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit and Anchorite life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform style....
: the Canons Regular

Canons Regular

Canons regular are members of certain bodies of Canon living in community under the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common as a type of vow of poverty....
of the Austrian Congregation wear a purple mozzetta; their confreres in the Congregation of St. Maurice wear a red mozzetta; the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception

Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception

The Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception are a Roman Catholic congregation which follows the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule, and part of the Canonical Order of the Canons Regular of St....
and the Lateran Canons wear a black mozzetta.

Papal mozzetta

The Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
wears three versions of the mozzetta: the summer mozzetta, which is of red satin; the winter mozzetta, which is of red velvet trimmed with white ermine

Ermine

Ermine has several meanings:-*The name for the stoat when it is in its white winter pelage; in North America also the most usual common name for the species, though it is also called the short-tailed weasel)....
fur; and the Paschal mozzetta, which is of white damask

Damask

Damask is a figured cloth of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Made with one warp and one weft in which, generally, warp-satin and weft sateen weaves interchange....
silk trimmed with white fur. The Paschal mozzetta is worn only during Eastertide

Eastertide

Eastertide, or the Easter Season, or Paschal Time, is the period of fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, indeed as the "great Lord's Day"....
.

The winter mozzetta and the Paschal mozzetta fell into disuse during the pontificate of John Paul II (1978-2005), but their use has been restored by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI is the List of popes and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, monarch of the Vatican City....
. He wore the winter mozzetta during the papal station at the image of the Madonna

Blessed Virgin Mary

The Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes shortened to The Blessed Virgin or The Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used by most Christians and most specifically used by liturgical Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, and some others to describe Mary, mother of Jesus, the mother of...
near the Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinit? dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinit? dei Monti....
that traditionally marks the beginning of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
's winter season, and he wears it on all the occasions in the winter season where this garment is appropriate. The white mozzetta was reintroduced during the Octave of Easter in 2008. This change between winter and summer garments is very practical, given the oppressive heat of the Roman summer.

Shoulder cape

A shoulder cape is shorter than a mozzetta and is not buttoned over the chest. It is generally seen to be a symbol of jurisdiction or authority. It is worn over the cassock by the Pope

Pope

Bishops

Bishops can refer to:*The plural of bishop, a religious official*The plural of bishop , a chess piece*Diocesan College, South Africa*The Bishops, British band...
). In some countries it is customary for altar servers to wear a shoulder cape over their cottas or surplices while serving.

See also: Simar
Simar

The simar is a Roman Catholic garment similar in design to a plain cassock, but with a shoulder cape. It is worn by bishops, not ordinary clerics, and is considered a garment of jurisdiction....

Mozzetta

Colour

Papal mozzetta

Shoulder cape

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