Two Benedictine abbots from England

Anscar Vonier, abbot of Buckfast Abbey from 1906 to 1938.


Bruno Hicks, abbot of Downside Abbey from 1933 to 1938. Thanks to Fr. Selvester for sending in this one!

Two nice snapshots...

... of Francis Cardinal McIntyre

Old newspapers are fun!

Especially when the title includes the words "Catholic" and "Illustrated". Example: "La Hormiga de Oro, Ilustración Católica", an illustrated Spanish weekly, whose covers show us all the things we like about the Church in general and the Spanish Church in particular:


Happy prelates


Elegance


Canons


The baciamano and the cappa


Coronations


(Future) Martyrs


Popes


Snapshots


The Universal Church


Pontifical Masses


All photos found here. Check out this page and other online marketplaces for lots more!

Marcello Cardinal Mimmi (1882 - 1961)

He was bishop of Crema from 1930 to 1933, archbishop of Bari-Canosa from 1933 to 1952, Archbishop of Naples from 1952 to 1958 and Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina-Poggio from 1958 to 1961. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Venerable Pius XII on January 12th, 1953.

Somewhere in Italy. This man apparently was a giant! And: Please, pretty please, bring back these buckled shoes! And the gold tassels! And the watered silk! And... EVERYTHING!


With the newly created Cardinal Montini in 1958.

Archbishop Burke in Artallo

A kind reader from Italy sent in this nice collection of photos of the Pontifical Mass by Archbishop Raymond Burke in Artallo, January 24th.

















Thanks, Riccardo!

Not quite a cappa...

I always liked the mandya or mantya of the Orthodox Churches.

As a Glossary of Common Terms in the Orthodox Church explains, the mandya is a "long, capelike episcopal vesture, usually purple in colour with ribbons and tablets which represent the law and the flowing streams of the Holy Spirit."

I find the cappa to be more 'elegant' and 'baroque' with exactly the right amount of unnecessary fabric rustling around the prelate's arms. But as far as the variety of in-your-face colors goes, it is hard to beat the mandya. Here are some great photos that a kind reader sent in:


Watered silk,...

... trains,...

... (and then some)...

... and color! Here's some purple.

I love this blue-turquoise-ish color! Green... hmm... well, alright...

More purple/violet/rose-ish

And even...

... black!

I wonder if there are any red mantyas?

Everybody wave, smile and say "Thanks!" to sender-inner Kevin!

Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski (1901-1981)

Thanks to reader Sebastian, who sent in these two splendid photos of the "Primate of the Millenium":

Kissing the Ring

Alfonso Cardinal Castaldo visits the Institute of Santa Rita alla Salute in Naples

We need more prelates in carriages!

And I know this for a fact, cause I got the proof right here:






Dom Antonio Cardinal Mendes Belo, Patriarch of Lisbon from 1907 to 1928, makes it abundantly clear that it's more fun to travel slowly but in style.

Pedro Cantero Cuadrado (1902-1978)

He was bishop of Barbastro/Spain from 1951 to 1953, bishop of Huelva from 1953 to 1964 and archbishop of Zaragoza from 1964 to 1977. The above picture shows him as bishop of Huelva. The following pictures were taken on the day of his installation as archbishop of Zaragoza: