Questions and Answers

Questions 1:

Can the Sacred Vestments be used in a non-liturgical setting?

Sacred vestments are to be used “exclusively” for worship, as expressed in the Prayers for the Blessing of liturgical wears. (See The Roman Ritual, Book of Blessings, Approved for Use in the Diocese of the USA, Catholic Book Publishing Co. New York 1989, nn. 1351-1352; pp. 576-577).

Questions 2:

Can the Cassock/Clergyman shirts be used in a non-liturgical setting?

Answer: While Liturgical Vestments, as the name implies, are used within the liturgical setting, Ecclesiastical Habit can be used outside the celebration of the liturgy. Liturgical Vestments are, in themselves, ceremonial, and they depict the function of the minister who uses them. Ecclesiastical wears, as the name implies, depict the status of the faithful who use them – the clergy (See cann. 284; 929; 669§2. See also CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY, Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1994; CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA, A Companion to the Code of Canon Law: Some Modifications on the Code of Canon Law and the Revised Complementary Norms for the Church in Nigeria, St. Pauls, p. 57).

Questions 3:

Can the surplice be used in place of the Alb for the celebration of the Holy Mass?

Answer: According to GIRM, “the Alb may not be replaced by a surplice, not even over a cassock, on occasions when a chasuble or dalmatic is to be worn.” (GIRM, n. 335. See also Redemptionis Sacramentum, 122; Ceremoniale Episcoporum, 65).

Questions 4:

How should a concelebrant or concelebrants dress for the Eucharistic celebration?

Answer: Concelebrants are to wear the customary vestments for the individual celebration of the Mass because each of them is, indeed, celebrating a Mass. Thus, they should always put on a chasuble of the prescribed colour for the celebration of the Mass. Nevertheless, “a faculty is given in the Roman Missal for the Priest concelebrants at Mass other than the principal concelebrant for a just reason such as a large number of concelebrants or a lack of vestments, to omit ‘the chasuble, using the stole over the alb.’” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 124. See also GIRM, 209; Tres abhinc Annos, 27).

Questions 5:

Can a priest be said to have concelebrated the Holy Mass by wearing the Stole from the Liturgy of the Eucharist to join in the consecration?

Answer: According to the GIRM, “no one is to enter into a concelebration or to be admitted as a concelebrant once the Mass has already begun.” (GIRM, 206. See also Sacrosanctum Concilium, 57-58).