A Milwaukee high school student who aspires to become a Catholic priest says that his right to express his faith is being violated when the Catholic high school he attends barred him from wearing a robe as a tribute to a former Pope. The student, a junior at Pius XI High School in Milwaukee, started wearing the robe last spring as a personal expression of his faith and as a tribute to the school’s namesake. However, when classes resumed in the fall, school officials said that he could not wear the robe during school hours.
In a television news report, the principal of the school said that they respect the student’s view on expressing his faith, but that wearing the robe to class is distracting to other students. However, several students interviewed in the report said that the robe was not distracting and that others at the school dress in ways that are far more distracting than the robe worn by the student. Several teachers also feel that the student should be allowed to wear the robe, but were barred from commenting by school officials. [Source]
I am not sure what I make of this story other than that the school wants the student to disrobe.
18 comments
What exactly do they mean by ‘robe’ is my question. A picture would help.
I welcome the priestly vocation, but in the matter of dress the kid is just being a jerk.
If this were a wide-open dress-as-your-future-job event, and his costume was barred while non-religious costumes were admitted, that would be an actionable First Amendment violation. Likewise, if this school has no dress code whatsoever, it’s fishy if it’s suddenly discovering one now.
But if (as appears) he’s asking for something no other student has — the right to dress any damn way he pleases — then he has no federal constitutional case, and he needs to grow up.
They’re simply trying to keep him from **cough** a bad habit.
In Rome there are plenty of seminarians who wear cassocks and roman collars even though they’re not priests yet (all the Legionaries of Christ for sure…). But this kid isn’t even in the seminary yet is he? I wonder what his vocations director thinks about all this…
I saw the TV news account of this case. While I empathize with the kid’s devotion, he misses the original purpose of the religious habit. It was meant to withdraw the self into a community. One member is equal to all the others. To where the robe just to draw attention is something very unusual for vocation.
Just my thought.
Mike
http://movingcatholic.blogspot.com/
This wreaks of vaganteism. On that note I thought I’d pass this along:
American Medicial Association Home Reference Book:
VAGANTEISM – Vaganteism is a serious medical condition, and it should not be treated lightly. Many would argue that it is a disease. It certainly is a compulsion, one that is treatable but not curable. Many of us have friends and loved ones who suffer in silence from this condition.
The most common symptoms of vaganteism are:
1. Illusions of grandeur, such as believing oneself to be a Patriarch or Metropolitan.
2. An overwhelming urge to renovate one’s garage to resemble a cathedral.
3. The complusion to photograph the renovated garage, and post the pictures on the Internet.
4. An insatiable desire to compose lengthy charts of spurious episcopal succession, and post them on the Internet next to the garage pics.
5. A tragic, debilitating urge to spend large sums of money on fabric for elaborate episcopal robes.
What the student should do is tell them that he’s not “wearing a robe”, he’s in drag, and if they don’t leave him alone, he’ll call the ACLU.
Tony I think you’re on to something. I’m quite sure the other kid that sits next to him with the black full length trench coat, with the painted black tear running down his cheek, and the black sun glasses has never been told to leave his cute little out fit at home. Oh my gosh….what to wear, what to wear.
I remembered that we had a transvestite at my high school, complete with makeup and no one seemed to care.
However, there is the idea that one wears religious garb to diminish the self and be more of the community. He should just go back to jeans and a tshirt until he sees if he has a vocation or not.
Pius XI is a nut-house; hasn’t been a “Catholic” school since the mid-1960’s. Feminazis dominate the joint, and the usual gaggle of “American Catholic” camp-followers are #2 in the power structure.
This kid is just as nuts as the admin/faculty.
Please forgive my dismay. I saw the kid on t.v. and he’s was wearing a plain brown robe–resembling that of a fransiscan.
He doesn’t claim to be a religous or anything else–just a kid trying he’s here to serve god.
Perhaps, he’d be less nutty if he listened to 50 cent, hummed songs about abusing women, hung porn in his locker, and dated a fellow student donning a mini-skirt that showed off a nice fat booty.
Perhaps, then everyone could stop making fun of him.
I think it’s splendid if he has a vocation to the priesthood, but, if this is a Catholic school, don’t they have a uniform? And he would likely benefit from reflecting on the halmark of all orders: obedience.
I’m sure there are a lot of young ladies at the same school with bare midriffs, skin-tight clothes, skirts up to their landmarks and so on. They’re dressing for their future careers. Why can’t the priest kid?
Though it may be a bit out of place to dress like that, I can completely understand his frustrations and why he would do something to bring some type of clashing. I suffered through 4 years of Catholic High School just trying to be Catholic. These wacky administration at these places can drive you to a very low point, sometimes you want to do dramatic things to lash out.
I taught in a CAtholic high school for 5 years. They’re not the pure and strict places that adults remember.
In fact, there’s really an interesting relationship between how things work at a catholic high school and how they are in public high schools. In general, in catholic high schools, there’s a much higher tolerance for public sexual activity than in public schools–deep kissing in the halls, public fondling at the lockers, etc.
Public schools are much more into violence and punk noise, though. Go figure.
About the uniform thing. Some catholic schools have uniforms, not all. And a good portion of the kids don’t like them and are very inventive about dressing them down–or up. The only thing they’re good for is keeping the rich kids from looking rich, which is a good thing, overall. They do not reinforce identity or reverence or anything of that nature. They do make it more difficult for kids to wander around town anonymously……. =)
You’re right, michigancatholic. The dress code for Pius XI states: Students must wear clothing that is “neat and appropriate.” No uniform. I come from an area where Catholic schools going co-ed is a fairly recent phenomena, let alone no uniform! Indeed, one of the reasons for establishing a uniform was to mitigate the distinction between the wealthier vs. poorer students, but adherence to a uniform also served to promote denial of materialism and more meaningful self-mastery — rather than an identity based on outward appearances. A uniformed student body works best when you have parents who help honor that code, instead of fighting with faculty members (as is so often the case today) for their child’s radical individualism. It would be nice if we had more students wishing to distinguish themselves via academic performance or community activity — not by putting bolts in their tongues, exposing mid-riffs or even wearing the robes of their favorite pope.
I’m not really quick to call this boy out like this. There are plenty of reasons why a teenaged boy might do this. Including a real vocation and the perceived need to protect himself from the rough and sexual atmosphere he may be in. I’d need to know more before saying much that’s definite about it.
And like I said before, there is plenty of odd behavior in high schools, even Catholic ones. It’s hard to tell. Given the fact that some of his classmates are probably goths with black lipstick and painted on tears, and some of the girls are sure to be dressing like prostitutes, I don’t think a brown robe is very serious, frankly.
just for clarification i attend pius xi high school and the student in question does not want to be a catholic priest. His “priest” is for a regligion that he created himself based loosely on Jedi beliefs from the starwars movies….i hope that clears it up a little bit.