Royal vs Papal Etiquette

The Duke and Duchess of Connaught with Princess Patricia and Prince Arthur.

Papal Prince Did Not Meet Duke

Cardinal Farley Had His Own Opinion as to Questions of Etiquette

Special Dispatch to The Call

New York, Jan. 26.—The Duke of Connaught left New York tonight without having met Cardinal Farley, one of the new princes of the Catholic church. The Cardinal was invited to two of the festivities given in the Duke’s honor on his five days’ visit, but declined the invitations. A third invitation was not extended to him when inquiries established the fact that he would not accept.

Questions of etiquette were made the basis of the declinations on the Cardinal’s behalf. The question of etiquette was involved in the custom of submitting to Royalty, the names of all prospective guests.

As an American citizen and as a spiritual prince, it was thought that Cardinal Farley's presence should not be made subject to the approval or disapproval of an English temporal prince. – San Francisco Call, 1912

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette and the Papal Wardrobe

Heavenly Bodies — Fashion and the Catholic Imagination... Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council, had been wanting for some time for the dicastery to focus on the relationship between fashion, art and faith, and agreed to collaborate with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art because of the Met’s significance to culture and the potential global outreach, but officials were unaware of the widely criticized gala that took place last Monday night. “We wanted to be involved and those behind it had good intentions,” a Vatican official told the Register. The Met Gala “crossed a line and was openly, brazenly disrespectful,” wrote Piers Morgan, Catholic talk show host. Pop singer Rihanna dressed up as a provocative, sequinned pope and actress Jennifer Lopez wore a jewel-encrusted multi-coloured cross. The Met Gala is the annual curtain-raising event for its Summer exhibit. The Vatican has loaned 40 priceless items which serve as the “cornerstone” of the display, including “papal robes and accessories from the Sistine Chapel sacristy, many of which have never been seen outside the Vatican.”  – National Catholic Register Blogger Edward Pentin

A Wonderful Wardrobe

“The most costly wardrobe in the world is to be found at Rome, and belongs to the Pope,” says M. A. P. Each day etiquette compels him to wear different garments, and as nearly all of them are ornamented with rich and rare gems, no millionaire could hope to purchase them, even if a value could be placed on them. The Pope's little skull caps are of the finest and most beautiful of silk, while his slippers of embroidered velvet are gorgeous to look at, being works of art. His gloves, made of white wool, are still more costly, embroidered as they are, with fine pearls in the shape of a cross. A special flock of fifty sheep are kept, from which all the Papal woolen garments are manufactured. The surplices are of the most valuable and beautiful lace, while one long cape, the cappa magna, which is rarely worn, hangs straight from the shoulders, and literally gleams from top to bottom with gold and precious stones. The rings, too, which the Pope wears are priceless, containing, as they do, many stones of matchless quality. – Los Angeles Herald, 1910

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Vatican Etiquette and a Pope's Dance

Pope Pius X declared tango dancing as immoral in 1913, and off-limits to Catholics. But when the tango proved to be too popular to declare "off-limits," Pope Pius X tried a different tactic, mocking the tango as "one of the dullest things imaginable," and recommending people take up dancing the furlana instead, a popular Venetian dance from the 17th and 18th centiuries. By February of 1914, the New York Times was reporting: 
"POPE'S DANCE' IS THE RAGE; The Furlana Now Rivals the Tango in Popularity Among Italians.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times"

The Vatican authorities have given the strictest notice to those who recommend people for audience with the Pope that they must guarantee that such persons will conform to Vatican etiquette in kneeling and kissing the hand of the Pope. This notification was issued as a result of the conduct of some Americans, a few weeks ago, who refused to kneel when the Pope appeared. — The Sausalito News, 1904

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia