Toulouse: the archbishop asks future priests not to wear the cassock in the seminary and in the street
The letter caused a stir. Mgr de Kerimel, the new archbishop of Toulouse, has asked his seminarians to no longer wear the cassock.
The missive was intended to be discreet. She ended up on Twitter. This Thursday, the day after a dinner with his seminarians, the freshly archbishop of Toulouse, Monsignor Guy de Kerimel, sent a letter to future priests in which he urges them to no longer wear the cassock. In the seminary or outside.
“During this evening, I mentioned my questions, during the confirmations of students at La Daurade, faced with some in cassocks and surplices and I told you that I did not want the seminarians to appear too clerical “, indicated the prelate.
According to him, the image sent back by the seminarians is “not adjusted” because they are “lay faithful”. He maintains that “the future priest must be identified and recognized by his holiness, his spirit of service and the quality of his pastoral relationship”.
The archbishop therefore no longer authorizes the wearing of the cassock in the seminary, outside because “it is the law in force”. Monsignor Guy de Kerimel asks that this law also applies outside and includes it for deacons, arguing that other charitable missions are a priority before displaying “a marked identity”. Wearing a distinctive sign is distinctive from admission, he recalls.
The leak of the episcopal letter angered some faithful on social networks who urged them to “defend traditions”.