Biretta
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The biretta is a square cap with three or four ridges or peaks, sometimes surmounted by a tuft, traditionally worn by Roman Catholic clergy, as well as by some clergy of the Anglican Communion. It is also the term used for a similar cap worn by those holding doctoral degrees from some universities, and is occasionally used for caps worn by advocates in law courts, for instance the Advocates in the Channel Islands and Malta.
Its origins are uncertain but is mentioned as early as the tenth century. The most probable origin of the biretta is the academic hat of the high middle ages, which was a soft, square cap. The medieval academic hat is also the ancestor of the modern mortarboard hat or 'dink' used today in secular universities. The tuft or pom which is sometimes seen on the biretta was added later, as evidenced by the fact that the earliest forms of the biretta did not bear the device.
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[edit] Ecclesiastical biretta
Historically, the biretta has been used by all ranks of the clergy from Cardinals to priests, deacons and seminarians. Those worn by Cardinals are scarlet red and made of silk - they receive a wool biretta from the Pope when named to the College of Cardinals, but this is worn only for that ceremony and traditionally sits on a table near the entrance of their residence. The biretta of bishops are purple, while those worn by priests, deacons, and seminarians are black.
Cardinals bear no tuft or "pom," bishops bear a purple pom, priests who have been appointed as to certain positions prelates within the Vatican wear a black biretta with red pom, and diocesan priests wear a black biretta with or without a black pom. The biretta of priests in religious orders (or "regular clergy" - that is, clergy under regula or rule of life) usually bears no pom. The pope does not make use of the biretta. The liturgical biretta has three peaks, with the 'peak-less' corner should be worn on the left side of the head. However, in German speaking countries as well as France and Spain, the biretta usually has four peaks.
The use of the biretta has not been abolished as a result of changes in regulation of clerical dress and vesture following the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council but its use has been made optional. It is only occasionally seen today, and is oftentimes only used by bishops and cardinals, and by them only on ceremonial occasions. Some priests wear it during outdoor services such as burials or processions or, more less commonly, during the celebration of Mass and other liturgical services. The biretta is also worn by a priest, deacon, and bishop in attendance at a Mass celebrated according to the Roman Missal of 1962.
[edit] Academic or doctoral biretta
In the Medieval university, the ceremony by which a new master or doctor received his degree included the placing of the biretta on his head. While the academic biretta developed into various styles of academic headgear on the European continent and in the British Isles, and the liturgical biretta underwent its own separate development, there are today secular universities that still use the term for their academic cap.
In commencement ceremonies and other academic settings, clergy normally wear the biretta rather than the mortarboard. For clergy who do not hold pontifical doctorates, the biretta used academically is the same as the liturgical biretta. However, a four-peaked biretta is awarded to those who complete a doctoral degree in a pontifical faculty or university (as opposed to doctorates from other faculties), which may be piped and tufted with the color indicating the field of expertise, thus, for example, emerald green for canon law and dark red for theology.[1][2] This four-peak "academic biretta" may not be worn during liturgical services.
The pontifical doctoral biretta is sometimes seen in depictions of St. Teresa of Ávila, because she was declared a doctor by the University of Salamanca.[3] This recognition is distinct from her status as a doctor of the Church. The doctoral biretta has been borrowed for depictions of another doctor of the Church, St. Thérèse de Lisieux.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ St. Therese Catholic Church Q&A. Archive.org revision of 05-05-2006. Accessed 2006-11-26.
- ^ EWTN Catholic Q & A. Accessed 2006-11-26.
- ^ Paul Rhetts, Saint Teresa in New Mexico. Tradicion Revista, Volume 7, No. 1, Spring 2002. Accessed 2006-11-26.
- ^ Portraits/Chicago Inc. Accessed 2006-11-26.
[edit] References
"Biretta" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.- Noonan, Jr., James-Charles (1996). The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. ISBN 0-670-86745-4.
- "Instruction on the dress, titles and coat-of-arms of cardinals, bishops and lesser prelates." L'Osservatore Romano, English ed. 17 Apr. 1969: 4. Online at http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/instruction69.htm
