Hendrik van de Wetering (1850 - 1929)

He was archbishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands from 1895 to 1929. He certainly knew how to attract attention by placing the biretta on his head in a somewhat "frivolous" (as a Dutch author put it) kind of way. Add to that biretta-style a cappa that is all over the place, and the first picture kind of looks like "Did anyone get the license plate of the party that hit me yesterday night?"

Caption me!

Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber

He was born in 1869 in Heidenfeld/Franken (Germany). Ordained a priest in 1892, he became bishop of Speyer in 1910 and archbishop of München/Freising in 1917. He was raised to nobility in 1913 by Ludwig III of Bayern. He was a multi-layered personality, which can be seen by the judgment passed on him by his contemporaries: For the political left he was an "anti-democrat" because he was a friend of the military, the monarchy and the national authoritative state. For the political right he was a "Judenfreund" because he spoke out against the persecution of Jews and the murder of the sick and handicapped.

He once said: "Kings of God's grace are no grace for the people, but where the people become their own king, they will sooner or later also become their own gravedigger."

Von Faulhaber was elevated to the cardinalate by Benedict XV on the 7th of March in 1921 with the title of Sant’Anastasia.

In 1951 he conferred the priestly ordination on Josef and Georg Ratzinger in the cathedral of Freising.

International Eucharistic Congress, Munich. 1960

It was 1960 and everything still was kind of alright...

The masses

The young clerics in proper dress

Our Lord and King honored with all the glory and beauty that man in his insufficiency can produce

The faithful little ones

The cappa magna


It was 1960 and the horrors were just lurking around the corner:

Case in Point: The depiction of the Last Supper behind the altar. New sacred art...

Adam Ignacy Komorowski

Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland from 1748 to 1759.

Of course, this prelate is a classic example of baroque "over the top"-ness. Successfully covering pretty much every aspect from self-ironic playfulness via steadfast dignity to theatrical effeminacy, he allows us to see him as a pious performer of his religious duties, as a vivid entertainer of a social gathering and as a little girl that complains about the temperature of her hot chocolate. I love the "Now where do I put all my silk?"-table in front, which also allows for a dramatic underlining of the cardinal's ability to read. Also: Witness the fingers, which seem to be way to thin for such a big guy.

"Nel Nome del Papa Re" (1977)

This is - of course - a movie with an anti-clerical (or at least anti-curial) bias, but the cappa you see in this scene is apparently either a real one or very well done. Don't be fooled by the cardinal's monocle. When he doesn't hold it, it looks like he forgot to remove the earplugs of his iPod

Now...

... what kind of color for a cappa is that?

This is a bishop from France. I don't know who he is. If any body has any idea what is going on here, please let me know.

Still in Canada...

Here are three great photos of Paul Emile Cardinal Leger (one of which long time readers already know). He was archbishop of Montreal from 1950 to 1968. A leading liberal force in during the Second Vatican Council (religious freedom, birth control, conjugal love equals procreation in marriage, the works...), he resigned as Montreal's archbishop in 1968 to go to Africa and perform missionary work.





The photos were of course taken in those years when Leger still fulfilled the duties of his office.

Joseph-Médard Émard

To continue my little series on Canadian prelates, here are some photos of Joseph-Médard Émard, Archbishop of Ottawa, from the day of his installation in 1922.

When Cardinals pass through...

... it is (or was) a big deal! Norman Thomas Cardinal Gilroy (Sydney) and Bernard Cardinal Griffin (Westminster) came to Quebec in 1947 on their way to who-knows-where and a special mass was held to honor their stay in the city. Here are two photos of that event.

L'Affaire du Collier de la Reine

In this 1946 movie by French director Marcel L'Herbier you can see one of the more credible representations of an "on screen" cappa magna. Maurice Escande plays the Cardinal de Rohan, one of the major characters in the scandal that damaged the French Monarchy and especially the reputation of Marie Antoinette four years before the outbreak of the revolution. Marion Dorian plays Marie-Antoinette and Jean Hébey is Louis XVI.



This movie is more of a documentation and almost has the feel of a stage play about it. Still it is far better than Charles Shyer's "Affair of the Necklace", a 2001 pile of steaming dung, which - I admit - is a half-decent piece of eye-candy but still defiles not only the historical persons of Marie Antoinette and Louis Cardinal de Rohan but also the actors playing them, Hilary Swank and Johnathan Pierce, who both helplessly stumble through a script that is about as much fun as a toothache on your wedding day. I'd love to see this episode of French history done well in a monumental kind of way with one million actors and extras, a 200 million budget, a faithful reenactment of the court at Versailles and actors who at least approximately resemble their historical counterparts. I am sick of Marie Antoinette looking like a tramp, Louis XVI looking like a supermodel or an idiot and the Cardinal de Rohan looking like a bookkeeper in scarlet silk.

Maurice Cardinal Roy

He served as bishop of Trois Rivières from 1946 to 1947 and as archbishop of Quebec from 1947 to 1981. The photo shows him entering St Peters to receive his red hat on Feb 25th 1965.


Thanks are due - again - to reader and busy sender-inner Charles!

FYI

I am back in Rome, which means that posting will become more frequent again. I wasn't lazy during the past three months. Apart from keeping this blog kind of alive, I also went out and got some pretty awesome new photos, all of which will eventually be posted here. So keep your eyes peeled for more happy prelates, catholic crowds and cappae magnae that go from here to Wyoming and back!

Los Curas

Photos of Spanish priests from the first decades of the 20th century:

Tranquility


Determination


Dignity


Ease


Revelry


Longing


All of the above

A little help please...

Charles, who already sent in the two great pictures of Cardinal Villeneuve, asked me if I knew this prelate. I don't. So I pass the question on to my faithful and learned readers...

Any idea?

More Cardinal Villeneuve

Since Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Cardinal Villeneuve already had the two previous posts, here are some more photos of this prelate (most of which are rather small, sorry).

Another photo of Cardinal Villeneuve

Here you can see that His Eminence is actually wearing two sashes

Thanks again to sender-inner Charles who also explains that the bishop on the left might be Archbishop Alexandre Vachon of Ottawa who had once been Rector of Laval University in Québec City.

Thanks Charles!