With reports circulating that the Pope has commissioned a set of vestments based on those worn by the first Medici pope, Leo X, a specialist in liturgy examines the significance of the sartorial choices of Benedict XVI, who is clearly keenly aware of the messages embedded in the garments' use.A couple of years ago, when I was invited by the Serbian Orthodox Church to deliver several lectures at its Theological Institute in Belgrade, I had the occasion to meet privately with a small group of Serbian Orthodox bishops.
During our discussion, one of the senior bishops who has been compared to Joseph Ratzinger both for his theological acumen and linguistic ability raised the subject of Pope Benedict's return to the ancient form of the pallium: "You have no idea what that has meant for us in the Serbian Orthodox Church," he said.
"As that form of the pallium comes from the first millennium before the tragic rupture of 1054, we interpret this as a strong symbolic affirmation on the part of the Holy Father of his deep desire for the reunification of Christendom between East and West."
Like other elements within the liturgy, vesture is itself symbolic and papal vesture, all the more so. Thus, the fact that Pope Benedict has shown a greater interest in what he wears than had his recent predecessors, raises questions not only about the particular style of vesture being donned, but also about the symbolic message that is communicated therein.
In his non-liturgical dress during papal audiences and processions, the Holy Father has restored use of the papal cape, or mozzetta, with its origins in the thirteenth century and last worn by Paul VI, made of red velvet, trimmed in ermine and lined with silk. He has also restored usage of the matching red velvet papal winter hat or camauro which has its origins in the twelfth century but was last worn by Pope John XXIII.
Within the context of liturgical celebrations, Pope Benedict has presided in a cope of Pope Pius IX, worn the mitre of Pope Benedict XV (pope 1914-22) (also used by Pope Pius XII in the Holy Year of 1950 and last worn by John Paul I at the Mass to inaugurate his pontificate), and a mitre of Pope Pius IX (pope 1846-78) worn for the opening of Vatican Council I.
Pope Benedict has also used the elaborately carved wooden papal throne of Pope Leo XIII (pope 1878-1903).
On Ash Wednesday, the Pope presided at the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, wearing a chasuble which had been commissioned in the style of a vestment collection from the pontificate of the Borghese Pope Paul V (1605-21).
During the French Revolution many papal vestments had been burned in order to retrieve the gold woven into them. But two dalmatics remained from that collection of Paul V, and it was possible to reconstruct the pattern of the chasuble from the design of the dalmatics.
In recent weeks, reports surfaced that a set of 30 new vestments had been commissioned for Palm Sunday, which would have found the Pope presiding in a chasuble whose design came from the pontificate of Pope Leo X (1513-21) but bearing Benedict XVI's coat of arms.
It now appears, however, that those vestments will be reserved for another occasion, perhaps the Feast of Pentecost.
The fundamental question, of course, is what do all of these sartorial innovations actually mean?
Conservative blogs are rejoicing that these changes give a clear signal that the Pope is bent on rescuing the worship of the Roman Catholic Church from those of the past 40 years who nearly destroyed it.
They point to the changes that have been registered since the appointment last October of Mgr Guido Marini as the new Papal Master of Ceremonies: the placement of the cross and six candles on the papal altar; the return to the use of cardinal deacons who function in the role as liturgical deacons during papal celebrations vested in dalmatics and mitres; a return to the use of lace in albs and surplices; the Holy Father's celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord "ad orientem" - toward the east.
Critics of papal liturgies in the pontificate of Pope John Paul II lament the fact that the Pope was reduced to celebrating as if simply the bishop of any diocese - albeit on a grand scale - while the Bishop of Rome is really a monarch and thus, papal liturgical celebrations should better express this.
By contrast, in his motu proprio of 21 June 1968, "Pontificalia Insignia", Pope Paul VI sought to simplify and clarify the use of pontifical insignia for all prelates linked to the Roman pontiff.
Conservative critics, then, see these changes in papal vesture as indicative of a wider papal liturgical reform under way. Perhaps they are correct, although the reality appears to be much more enigmatic and complex.
First, there is the personal style and taste of the Pope himself. Those who knew him well as Archbishop of Munich-Freising and then at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith attest to his extraordinary attention to detail and his impeccable taste - both personally and in his official liturgical functioning.
Like his brother Georg, Pope Benedict has a refined artistic sense which goes far beyond his talent as an accomplished pianist. His love of Gregorian chant, his nostalgia for the old liturgy - its artistic beauty and reverence - is clearly exhibited in his book The Spirit of the Liturgy and to a certain extent also in his motu proprio of last July, "Summorum Pontificum", which granted permission for wider usage of the Tridentine Rite.
So the fact that we are seeing a return to the use of antique vestments and patterns or vestment styles of former centuries should not come as a complete surprise.
In the eleventh century when the chasuble came to be reserved for the celebration of Mass, it was ample and bell-shaped in its design. But by the thirteenth century it had become a more restricted garment so as to use less material and also be less cumbersome for the celebrant. That vestment's style and measure was further reduced in the post-Tridentine period and especially in the eighteenth century, cutting off the sides of the chasuble and creating what came to be popularly called the "fiddle-back".
Thus, gradually, the Gothic penchant for the oval-shaped chasuble gave way to the less copious baroque vestment without sleeves which tended to be made with heavier, stiff brocades.
Clearly, Pope Benedict is well acquainted with the evolution of the chasuble and has particular reasons for choosing to adopt a liturgical style from one historical epoch as opposed to another.
The vestments worn by the Pope on Ash Wednesday, along with the new set of vestments mentioned earlier, is a via media between the more ample Gothic chasuble of the medieval period and the more limited Roman chasuble in the latter part of the baroque period.
It is much longer than the "fiddle-back" chasuble in the front, and its sides reach almost to the elbows. However, the vestment is similar to that later Roman model in its stole which widens at the bottom, and also in its elaborate decoration.
The Pope's choice to adopt this particular style can also be interpreted as a via media on a symbolic level - between proponents of the Tridentine Rite who associate the "fiddle-back" Roman chasuble as the only fitting garment for the celebration of Mass, and those who prefer the more ample Gothic style with its association with a style of worship closer to the new rite.
So there may be something more significant being communicated here on a symbolic level than a mere issue of liturgical style or taste, not unlike the strong symbolic message communicated by returning to a form of the pallium from the first millennium.
To what extent are these liturgical changes being proposed by the Pope himself or by his new Papal Master of Ceremonies?
I would suspect that it is a combination of the two. Clearly, given his strong liturgical tastes, if the Holy Father were not in agreement with what Mgr Marini had proposed, he would not grant his approval for the changes to be made.
The question, of course, is why return to one historical period and not another?
Why, for example, choose styles and patterns from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries rather than the older Gothic vestment styles of the medieval period?
That remains an open question.
Suffice it to say, however, that as this papacy proceeds we can expect further innovations in papal liturgical celebrations.
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