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Mitre




The mitre or '''miter''' (from the Greek ''μιτρα'', 'headband' or 'turban') is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of Bishop s and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church , the Anglican Communion , and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy .


SECULAR

The ''camelaucum'' or '' καμιλαυκα '', the ancestral headdress to both the Western mitre and the Papal Tiara , was originally a cap used by officials of the Imperial Byzantine court. In the late Empire it developed into the closed type of Imperial Crown .


CHRISTIAN CLERGY


Western Christianity

In its modern form in Western Christianity , the mitre is a tall folding Cap , consisting of two similar parts (the front and back) rising to a peak and sewn together at the sides. Two short Lappet s always hang down from the back.

In the Roman Catholic church, the right to wear the mitre is confined by Canon Law to the Pope , Cardinals and bishops, though by papal privilege it may be worn as a high honor by others such as certain Abbot s (some also are awarded a Crosier ), who are therefore called ''mitred''.

Three types of mitres are worn by Roman Catholic clergy for different occasions:
  • The ''simplex'' is made of undecorated white linen or silk and is worn most notably at funerals and Good Friday . It is also worn when concelebrating Mass with the pope.

  • The ''pretiosa'' is decorated with precious stones and gold and worn on Sundays and feast days.

  • The ''auriphrygiata'' is of plain gold cloth or white silk with gold or silver embroidered bands and isused for penitential seasons. The mitre made up entirely of the cloth of gold is usually reserved for ordinations, including episcopal consacration, and for the blessing of an abbot. In rites of ordination, no other mitre should be used by the celebrant but the plain golden mitre.


'' Catholic Encyclopedia '']]

With his inauguration as pope, , a precedent followed by his two successors. Pope John Paul in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution left open the option of either a coronation or an inauguration by not specifying what sort of ceremony was to be used, other than that some ceremony must be used to "inaugurate" (begin) a reign. (Technically both coronations and inaugurations fit the description as both inaugurate – ceremonially begin – a reign or term of office.)

Pope Paul donated his tiara (a gift from his former archdiocese of Milan) to the efforts at relieving poverty in the world. Later, Francis Cardinal Spellman of New York received the tiara and took it on tour of the United States to raise funds for the poor. It is now on permanent view in the Crypt Church in the Basilica Of The National Shrine Of The Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

The mitre has always been used to surmount the coats of arms of bishops in the Church of England (instead of a Crest , which is not used by clergy). The mitre fell out of use in the Church Of England after the Reformation, but was resumed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a result of the Oxford Movement , and is now worn by most Anglican bishops on at least some occasions.

The Bishop in chess is represented by a stylized Western mitre.


Eastern Christianity




The most typical mitre in , along with other such items such as the Sakkos or Imperial Dalmatic , it signified the temporal authority of bishops (especially the Patriarch Of Constantinople ) within the administration of the ''Rum Millet '', or Christian community, of the Ottoman Empire .

In the Eastern Orthodox and counterpart Eastern Catholic churches it is a prerogative of the bishop, but may be awarded to Archpriests , Protopresbyters and Archimandrites . The priestly mitre is not surmounted by a cross, and is awarded at the discretion of a synod.

Oriental Orthodox bishops sometimes use mitres, either of the Western or Eastern style. In the past, Coptic bishops have worn the ''ballin'', an Omophorion wound around the head like a Turban . Syriac Orthodox bishops wear the ''maşnaphto'' (literally, 'turban') when presiding at the Divine Liturgy . This is a large, richly embroidered hood, often depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove. Armenian Orthodox bishops wear Western style mitres.