Repost: Head-Covering of Women in Church (Jan. 1909)

[96] Qu. Would you, please, kindly inform me and many others, who are in doubt about a supposed rule compelling women to wear a head-gear in church. Is there a rule or law of the Church, which obliges women to wear a hat or head-covering in church? Weltzer and Welte's Kirchenlexikon says: "Nach den Untersuchungen de Rossi's besteht keine Gewaehr dafuer, dass Papst Linus den Frauen die Verschleierung in der Kirche geboten hat."

Does usus or church decorum require head-coverings for women in church? Should ladies and girls be told not to appear in church without hats?
PH. W.

[97] Resp. There is no present and universal ecclesiastical law that obliges women to appear in the church with or without any particular head-covering. Usage and decorum in Italy and other Catholic countries appear to be in favor of the wearing of veils, and there is a decision of the S. Congregation answering this question, whether women assisting at the sacred functions in church should wear veils, in the affirmative (Decr. authent., 7 July, 1876, n. 3402). The decision is for Ravenna.

To the question whether women and young girls should be told by the priest not to come to church without hats, we would answer emphatically, no; at least not as though such a prohibition were the law of the Church. We have other ways of inculcating upon women what modesty demands of them in church, and the priest who enters into the details of millinery, or even notices them, must have exceptional qualities if he can manage to talk about such things without forfeiting some of that high esteem which our women ought to have for their pastors. Our suggestion would be to let their hats alone; if we speak rightly to them about their needs of soul, they will most likely come with their veils or hats or whatever is needed to give us the proper impression of their modesty and decorum.

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Source: "Head-Coverings of Women in Church," The Ecclesiastical Review 40 (January 1909): 96–97.