Authenticity of the Vatican Standard of Modesty with Documentation

I want to thank this anonymous comment left on "Repost: Modesty in Dress (June 1958)" which provides a thorough history of the documentation surrounding the Vatican Standard of Modesty and also definitively locates its original Italian publication in the Bollettino del Clero Romano 8 no. 10 (Oct. 1928), 134. This is a major step forward in clarifying the confusing history of this publication. For example, it corrects Fr. Kunkel's original, but mistaken, statement that he found the standard in L'Osservatore Romano, when in fact it was published in the above-mentioned Bollettino.

As I noted in my reply to the comment, "Even if Pius XI may not have seen and/or explicitly promoted these particular directives, nevertheless clearly bishops and theologians took the directives as expressing the authentic mind of the Holy See, despite all the subsequent and inexplicable confusions surrounding its origins and related documentation from the various Curial offices." This is verified for example in this quotation from the Homiletic and Pastoral Review: 

"The words of the Sacred Congregation of Religious quoted by our correspondent are very helpful to the priests and Catholic educators inasmuch as they express the mind of the Holy See on the subject of immodesty in women's dress" (emphasis mine).

I've reposted this comment below (with accompanying footnotes) unedited for everyone's edification:

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Hello,

In case you are still interested in establishing the authenticity of the Vatican Standards, here is some new information.

These standards were issued by Cardinal-Vicar Basilio Pompili [2]. They were then translated into French [3], and this translation was successively quoted by Bishop Rouleau [6 p. 20], Bishop Decelles [7 p. 538] and Bishop Douville [8 p. 359].

Unfortunately, the translation [3] has a number of flaws:

(1) "che non scenda un poco più giù del ginocchio" (which does not fall a bit below the knee) has been translated into "qui descend à peine au-dessous des genoux". This sounds to me like the knees have to be covered by a large margin, which is an overstatement of what the original standard asks for. Note that this problem is also present in the English translation.

(2) "quante frequentano l'Istituto da Lei diretto" (all those who attend the institution over which you preside) has been translated into "toutes les personnes qui dirigent votre institution" (all those who preside over your institution).

(3) The words "che pur professano di appartenere al gregge di Gesù Cristo e alla sua Chiesa", the whole paragraph "Sarà Nostra cura [...] i deplorati abusi" and the words "della S. C. dei Religiosi" have been omitted without notice.

(4) The words "auxquelles nous vous prions de vous conformer dans la direction de votre établissement" are not present in the original text.

The two last omissions are particularly unfortunate, because they can mislead one into thinking that the guidelines were included in the directions issued by the Congregation of Religious [1] and later referred to by the Congregation of the Council [5], which are quoted just before. This kind of confusion has indeed been observed repeatedly; for an extreme instance, see [11-12], whose account is completely at variance with the historical facts.

I have no similar explanation, however, as to why such confusion is widespread in the English speaking world as well (and it has been since an early date, as your post [4] shows).

By the way, while it seems plausible that Pope Pius XI at least read and approved Cardinal Pompili's standards, as far as I know even that is not yet conclusively established. Therefore, it is probably best to refrain from claiming that these standards were written by order of the Pope, as some people do [10 p. 13].

References:

[1] Commentarium pro Religiosis 9 (1928), 414-415. Quoted in [2]. An English translation is given in [9].

[2] Cardinal B. Pompili, "Circolare alle Superiore degli Istituti religiosi femminili", Bollettino del Clero Romano 8 no. 10 (Oct. 1928), 134.

https://archive.org/details/circolare-alle-superiore-degli-istituti-religiosi-femminili

[3] "Les modes inconvenantes", La Documentation Catholique no. 491 (Oct. 1929), 655-656.

https://archive.org/details/les-modes-inconvenantes

[4] Immodest Women's Dress, The Homiletic and Pastoral Review 30 no. 1-6 (Oct. 1929 to March 1930), 171-173.

https://rugwig.blogspot.com/2018/07/repost-immodest-womens-dress.html

[5] Sacra Congregatio Concilii, "Instructio ad ordinarios diœcesanos: De inhonesto feminarum vestiendi more", Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 22 (1930), 26-28.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-22-1930-ocr.pdf

[6] Bishop R.-M. Rouleau, "Circulaire au clergé", 6 April 1930, part I, in Mandements, lettres pastorales et circulaires des Évêques de Québec 13, suppl. 33, 15-20.

https://archive.org/details/mandementslettre13glis/page/n638

[7] Bishop F.-Z. Decelles, "Circulaire au clergé", 15 Sept. 1933, part III, in Mandements des Évêques de Saint-Hyacinthe 18, 537-540.

https://archive.org/details/circulaire-au-clerge/page/n5

[8] Bishop A. Douville, "Lettre pastorale et mandement", 22 July 1944, in Mandements des Évêques de Saint-Hyacinthe 21, 353-361.

https://archive.org/details/lettre-pastorale-et-mandement

[9] "Rome’s Decrees on Modesty in Dress", Marylike Crusader, Nov.-Dec. 1963.

https://ladyofperpetualhelp.weebly.com/

https://www.national-coalition.org/modesty/moddecre.html

[10] R. T. Hart, Those Who Serve God Should Not Follow the Fashions, 6th edition, 2017 (1st edition 2003).

http://sicutincaelo.org/downloads/TWSG_Read.pdf

[11] "Règles de l'Église sur la modestie", Vers Demain, Aug.-Sept. 2007, 15.

https://docplayer.fr/85502325-En-preparation-du-congres-eucharistique-2008-a-quebec-ravivons-notre-devotion-a-la-messe-du-dimanche-et-a-la-sainte-eucharistie.html

[12] "Règles de l'Église sur la modestie", Vers Demain, March-April 2009, 7.

https://docplayer.fr/79586446-L-eglise-reaffirme-les-valeurs-du-mariage-et-de-la-famille.html

Repost: Modesty in Dress (June 1958)

[183] Of the priests in this country who have expressed themselves on the subject of modesty in feminine dress, not all are convinced that this cause is best advanced by proposing norms of modest fashions in more or less mathematical terms of body coverage. This honest doubt as to the efficacy or advisability of a particular means to an end does not in any sense of the word indicate disinterest in the end itself. And it would be an even more serious misinterpretation to infer that the doubt bespeaks indifference to the very virtue of modesty. Certainly we are all unhappily aware of the flagrant disregard of decency so often exhibited in feminine fashions. And there is no priest worthy of the name who is not eminently in favor of devising ways and means not only to correct this external abuse but to inculcate the interior virtue of modesty to the highest possible degree. If we differ in our carefully considered estimates of one technique or another, it should be only [184] because the ultimate end to be achieved is too important to all of us to be jeopardized by using any means but the most effective.

It is the belief of "Pater Sine Nomine"[38] that, due to an inherent characteristic of female human nature, girls are seriously handicapped in their attempts to distinguish between the modest and the immodest in feminine fashions. The handicap referred to is the commonly recognized fact that women as a rule are relatively immune (some even to the point of frigidity) to the sexual stimuli which ordinarily evoke immediate and highly pronounced physical and emotional response in men. Lacking in themselves this sensitivity to sexual stimulation, which the author identifies with "a warning to cover up," women are chronically unable to appreciate the sexual responsiveness of men and therefore cannot determine what is modest or immodest in the matter of their own dress. The result, our nameless Father maintains, is that many actually make erroneous judgments and in all innocence wear clothing which is immodest. On this premise, and on the precedent of a 1928 letter from the Congregation of Religious to teaching sisters in Rome, the author concludes that only by providing a set of measured norms can we supply for a common inability among girls to judge modesty in concrete styles of feminine attire. The article more than implies that the failure of some priests to agree on this last point is obstructing the cause of modesty and is therefore a dereliction of their pastoral duty.

It simply cannot be that the author means to infer that a natural sense of modesty depends essentially on the actual experiencing within oneself of physical sex reaction. The exquisite instinct to modesty exhibited by so many entirely inexperienced in this regard is too obvious to need proof. It is true that girls may be for a long time unaware of male sensitivity to sexual stimulation and be unable to fathom it, once it is realized, in the light of what they know about themselves. But does this deprive them of the basic ability to sense which a considerable degree of accuracy what is modest and immodest in fashions? My own experience tells me no. The average American Catholic girl, at an age level to which this problem pertains, is surely capable of recognizing as modest or immodest those fashions which would be unhesitatingly and with virtual unanimity so designated by a representative group of decent adults. At the point where style begins to verge towards the risqué [sic], she may become uncertain or even in her innocence fail to sense the incipient trend. In this area, all would agree, guidance of some sort is needed—not in order to designate a line where virtue ends [185] and sin begins, but in order to educate and win her to an ideal of modesty which will be conspicuous.

It would be universally conceded that any rational program of education and inspiration to modesty must be basically designed to communicate correct notions of the virtue itself, an appreciation of the principles and facts pertaining to occasions of sin, and effective motivation along positive lines. The only legitimate point of debate is whether mathematical standards of dress are a necessary or useful adjunct to this indispensable phase of the project. If some theologians have reacted with less enthusiasm to particular programs already inaugurated and widely publicized, it is only because they perceive certain risks inherent in some of the tactics employed.

There is, first of all, the proven danger of presenting ideals in a doctrinally false context. The following preamble to the specific directives proposed by organization simply would not sustain theological scrutiny:

At Fatima, Portugal in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary condemned in advance the pagan fashions of our day, warning us: "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much." [italics original] At a later date, Our Blessed Mother made known what standards of modesty in dress she requires, through the Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, her Divine Son's Vicar, who set this guide: 

"A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers' breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows, and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper..." By Donato, Cardinal Sbaretti, Pref. of Congregation of the Council; Feast of the Holy Family, Jan. 12, 1930. 

Until this mandate of the Holy See, as to what constitutes modesty in dress, is revised, modified or rescinded by the Holy See itself, these minimum standards are binding on everyone, regardless of any opinions to the contrary held by so many people these days—even within the Church. 

To further confirm this Pope Pius XII stated very recently: "Our Divine Saviour [sic] entrusted the deposit of faith not to theologians, but to the magisterium of the Church for its authentic interpretation. Hence, the 'sensus ecclesiae' (the mind of the Church) is decisive for the knowledge of truth; not the 'opinio theologorum' (the personal views of individual theologians). Otherwise, theologians would be the magisterii [sic], which is evidently erroneous." (Sept., 1956).[39]

Even if the statement attributed to the Congregation of the Council were authentic, the theology of this preamble would still be open to serious criticism. But the truth of the matter is that those words are not to be found [186] in the Instruction cited.[40] According to S. Woywod, O.F.M.,[41] whose acknowledged source was a leaflet published by the Central Bureau of the Catholic Central Verein, they are contained in an earlier document to which the Instruction makes passing reference, viz., a letter from the Congregation of Religious (Aug. 23, 1928) to teaching sisters in Rome. A careful reading of that letter reveals nothing of the kind[42]—literally not a word which could possibly be construed as an attempt to define in concrete terms what is modest or immodest in feminine dress. What the origin of the interpolation may have been, one can only conjecture. But until more reliable evidence to the contrary is adduced, the passage in question would appear to qualify as a theological facsimile of Topsy.

The example serves at very least to illustrate one reason why many priests are reluctant to subscribe unreservedly to these crusades in their every detail. It is far from unreasonable to fear that false consciences could result from such misrepresentations of theological fact, unwitting though they may be. And it is no lack of zeal which prompts a demurrer against that danger.

Furthermore, as Pater Sine Nomine concedes, "we [sic] could not set up a plaster statue, draw two sets of lines on it, and say: 'At this line begins venial sin; at that line begins mortal sin.'" Presumably this is not what is intended when specific measurements are proposed as practical norms of an ideal in modesty. But some of the formulae in which these criteria have been expressed are objectively open to that interpretation, as is certainly true of the preamble quoted above. And such are the psychological quirks of human nature—or perhaps such is the nature of the matter itself—that this is the impression too often taken, especially from the printed word, despite all precautions against it. The proponent of the mathematical standard can easily find himself in the awkward position of appearing to measure modesty in absurd mathematical absolutes, and of being forced to explain the why of a thesis he actually does not defend, namely, that precisely so many inches from a given point lies the last frontier of virtue.

There are those who deny that mathematical criteria actually do result in misunderstandings, ridicule, confused consciences, and the like, on the part of girls to whom they are proposed. But there are also others, no less zealous and experienced in the same apostolate, who in total sincerity testify to the contrary. Granted this difference of opinion on the point, the following questions [187] would make for most interesting discussion, at the dispassionate level, at an imaginary meeting of all priests truly experienced in this phase of the ministry: (1) Of those girls committed to a policy of modesty in dress, how many perhaps have been won to the cause precisely through the effectiveness of mathematical criteria? (2) Of those who disregard or are indifferent to modesty in dress, how many perhaps have been alienated because of misunderstandings occasioned by mathematical criteria? (3) All things considered, are mathematical criteria a necessary or beneficial adjunct to an effective crusade for modest fashions?

The preceding comments do not imply that we should content ourselves as counselors with vague and platitudinous exhortations to modest fashions. Besides inculcating the genuine meaning and beauties of the virtue, we should give a reasoned explanation of the scandal involved not only in immodest dress but, even more important, in immodest behavior. (It would be a mistake to give the impression that modesty consists exclusively or even primarily in what one wears, since a girls' posture, gestures, and general comportment are far more indicative of modesty, or the lack of it, than is the total yardage of her costume.) Finally, we should specify to some degree what can constitute suggestive or provocative attire in girls and women: form-fitting slacks and jeans, skimpy shorts, plunging necklines, snug sweaters, and the like. Any attempt to define with further exactitude the criteria of modest dress is, in the considered opinion of many, unnecessary and perhaps inimical to the effectiveness of such a crusade. And when we shall have devised the perfect syllabus for decency in feminine apparel, it would still be colossal conceit on our part to forget the multitudes of the impeccably modest who are what they are due to the grace of God, their own wholesomeness, and the example and training of conscientious parents no less wise than ourselves in the ways of modesty.

Footnotes:

38. "Measures and Modesty," Homiletic and Pastoral Review 58 (Nov., 1957) 164–72. An editorial note prefixed to this article apologizes for the anonymity but explains that the priest-author advanced very good reasons for not identifying himself.

39. "The Marylike Standards for Modesty in Dress" as reproduced in Divine Love 1 (July-Sept., 1957) 17.

40. "Instructio ad ordinarios diocesanos: De inhonesto feminarum vestiendi more," AAS 22 (1930) 26–28; cf. also T. L. Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest 1, 212–14.

41. Homiletic and Pastoral Review 30 (Sept., 1930) 1328.

42. The complete Italian text of the letter may be found in Commentarium pro religiosis 9 (1928) 414–15. An editorial note cites Monitore ecclesiastico, 1928, pp. 289–99, as CPR's source.

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Source: John J. Lynch, SJ, "Notes on Moral Theology: Modesty in Dress," Theological Studies 19, no. 2 (June 1958): 183–187.

Repost: What is Indecent Dress? Fr. Winfrid Herbst Replies (1946)

[42] Since so much is said and written about indecent dress of women, will you tell me what is really considered indecent dress by the supreme authority of the Church? What are Catholic women to do, or not to do?

We have an authoritative statement in the Instruction on this matter issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, January 12, 1930. That Instruction incorporates by reference a letter of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, August 23, 1928, to the religious communities [43] in the city of Rome conducting girls' schools. In that letter specific directions are given as to what the Holy See considers unbecoming dress for Catholic women and girls. We quote the following as given in a leaflet published by the Central Bureau of the Catholic Central Verein, with the Imprimatur of the Most Rev. John J. Glennon, Archbishop of St. Louis: "In order that uniformity of understanding prevail in all institutions of religious women regarding the cases in which the afore-cited [sic] prescriptions of the Congregation of Religious apply, we recall that dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers' breadth under the pit of the throat, which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows, and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent material are improper, as also flesh-colored stockings, which suggest the legs being bare."

Even ordinarily good Catholic women and young ladies are often unconscious of the indecency of modern dress and its offence against public Christian morality, due to the prevailing spirit of liberty in its exaggerated form and the lack of delicacy of Christian modesty lost through contact with life in the midst of an overwhelmingly large neo-pagan population that is mostly Christian in name only. What is necessary is persistent and uniform teaching of the high sense of Christian morality evidenced in the lives of the saints and the vast majority of our Catholic ancestors and corresponding practice by our Catholic women. The following dialogue illustrates what we mean:

"Yes, I know, I think I really could dress a bit more modestly if I just wanted to, but, really, I don't see why. Everybody's doing..."

"Now, now!" I admonished her. "Don't say anything silly. You don't see why you shouldn't [44] be a slave to extreme fashion. Why, even you must have read those forceful words spoken by Pope Pius XI not long ago. Remember them? Listen: 'The unfortunate mania for fashion causes even honest women to forget every sentiment of dignity and modesty. The decrease of womanly reserve has always been a sign of social decadence. The vanity of women causes the disintegration of the family. An immodest mother will have shameless children. A shameless girl cannot be a good wife. It is possible to dress with ladylike decorum without imitating monastic severity.'"

"Yes, I know. But I don't see why..."

"But I see why—why you should always be careful not to offend in the matter of dress, regardless of what others may do or say. If your dress is of such a kind as to constitute a sensual appeal to men and to encourage other girls to follow your bad example, you are both directly and indirectly giving scandal and leading others into temptation. Of course, a girl may dress well and attractively, if she does not offend against the laws of modesty. But charity demands that she assist others in their struggle against sin and shield them from temptation, instead of doing just the opposite. If she boldly displays her seductive charms, then she has no reason to resent it if insult is offered. She throws out a challenge. She has freely given up her right to be treated as a lady."

"But one gets used to it. So I don't see why..."

"You say 'one.' Who gets used to it? When a girl first appears in an immodest costume she feels very guilty and embarrassed. But soon she does, alas! get used to it: her sense of modesty becomes blunted, her maidenly reserve gradually vanishes. Then her love of chastity dies out, and sin and vice are not far off. Alas for those [45] who force themselves to cast away that saving sense of shame, virtue's greatest protection in this regard! Who gets used to it? Do the men? Some do, perhaps, others don't. Immodest dress, as being co-operation in sin, may earn for its wearer a long and painful purgatory. Of course, I cannot give any universal rule as to how far you can go without offending God. Time and place and different circumstances—all must be taken into consideration. Moreover, we shouldn't try to see how close we can get to a mortal sin without falling into it. We should rather try to see how far we can remain from even venial transgressions."

She was silent now. Poor girl! Why hadn't some sensible mother told her these things long before—and taught her how to dress? I continued, "And think of this, the immodestly dressed girl even comes to church to distract and tempt those who are praying in the holy place. What a mockery prayer is on such lips! 'Hail, Mary, full of grace,' she says. 'And I am full of sin,' she might add, if she be a seductress in the house of God. In improper costume such a girl will even approach the table of the Lord. But God forbid that I should think it is done out of malice. Rather let me call it ignorance and weakness of the saddest kind.

"After all, real beauty is not in the outlines of the body, but in mind, personality, and heart—the cultivated mind, the heard for sensible thinking, the engaging personality, the sterling character. Beauty of soul, reflected from the eyes, radiating from the countenance—that is true beauty. And where we find sterling character there the laws of health are not defied in slavish obedience to the caprices of fashion; there natural physical beauty adds modest charm to the already engaging personality. 

"Disregard all comment. Avoid all excess. [46] You can dress attractively and yet in an inconspicuous manner. If others offend God, that is no reason why you should offend Him by following their pernicious example.

"Start a new movement. Set a good example. You will soon have imitators. Resolve: 'I will never dress in such a way as to feel ashamed of myself. I will never dress to kill—to kill the souls of men.'"

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Source: Rev. Winfrid Herbst, Questions of Catholics Answered (St. Nazianz, WI: The Society of the Divine Savior, 1946), 42–46.

Repost: Pius XI (Jan.1930) Instruction: De Inhonesto Feminarum Vestiendi More (On the Shameful Manner of Women's Dressing)

[212] In virtue of the Supreme Apostleship which he exercises in the universal Church, His Holiness, Pius XI, has never ceased to inculcate in word and writing that precept of St. Paul (I Tim. II, 9, 10): "Women also in decent apparel; adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety ... as it becometh women professing godliness, with good works."

And on many occasions the same Supreme Pontiff has reproved and sharply condemned the immodesty in dress which today is everywhere in vogue, even among women and girls who are Catholics; a practice which does grave injury to the crowning virtue and glory of women, and moreover unfortunately leads not merely to their temporal disadvantage, but, what is worse, to their eternal ruin and that of other souls.

It is no wonder, then, that Bishops and other Ordinaries of places, as becomes ministers of Christ, have in their respective dioceses unanimously resisted in every way this licentious and shameless fashion, and in doing so have cheerfully and courageously borne the derision and ridicule sometimes directed at them by the ill-disposed.

Accordingly this Sacred Congregation for the maintenance of discipline among clergy and people, in the first place accords merited approval and praise to this vigilance and action on the part of the Bishops, and moreover earnestly exhorts them to continue in the purpose and undertaking they have so well begun, and to pursue them with even greater vigor, until this contagious disease be entirely banished from decent society.

That this may be accomplished with greater ease and security, this Sacred Congregation, in pursuance of the orders of His Holiness, has determined upon the following regulations on the subject:

I. Especially pastors and preachers, when they have the opportunity, must, according to those words of St. Paul (II Tim. 4, 2): "be instant, reprove, entreat, rebuke," to the end that women may wear clothes of becoming modesty, which may be an ornament [213] and safeguard of virtue; and they must also warn parents not to permit their daughters to wear immodest clothes.

II. Parents, mindful of their very grave obligation to provide especially for the moral and religious education of their children, must see to it with special care that their girls receive solid instruction in Christian doctrine from their earliest years; and they themselves must by word and example earnestly train them to a love of modesty and chastity. After the example of the Holy Family they must strive so to order and regulate the family that every member of it shall find at home a reason and inducement to love and to cherish modesty.

III. Parents should also prevent their daughters from taking part in public drills and athletic contests. If the girls are obliged to take part in them, the parents must see to it that they wear a costume that is entirely modest, and must never permit them to appear in immodest dress.

IV. Heads of girls' schools and colleges must strive so to imbue the hearts of their girls with the love of modesty that they may be induced to dress modestly.

V. They shall not admit to the schools or colleges girls who are given to immodest dress; and if any such have been admitted, they shall be dismissed unless they change their ways.

VI. Nuns, in accordance with the Letter of 23 Aug., 1928, of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, shall not admit to their colleges, schools, oratories, or amusement centers, nor allow to remain there any girls who do not observe Christian modesty in dress; and in the education of their charges they shall take special care to sow deeply in their hearts a love of chastity and Christian modesty.

VII. Pious associations of women shall be established and fostered for the purpose of restraining by counsel, example, and activity, abuses regarding immodest dress, and of promoting purity of morals and modesty of dress.

VIII. Women who wear immodest clothes should not be admitted to these associations; and those who have been admitted, if they afterward commit any fault in this regard and fail to amend after being warned, shall be expelled.

IX. Girls and women who are immodestly dressed are to be refused Holy Communion and excluded from the office of sponsor [214] in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation; and in proper cases are even to be excluded from the church.

X. On such feasts throughout the year as offer special opportunities for inculcating Christian modesty, especially on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, pastors and priests who have charge of pious unions and Catholic associations should not fail to preach a timely sermon on the subject, in order to encourage women to cultivate Christian modesty in dress. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, special prayers shall be recited every year in all cathedral and parish churches, and when it is possible there shall also be a timely exhortation by way of a solemn sermon to the people.

XI. The diocesan Council of Vigilance, mentioned in the declaration of the Holy Office, 22 March, 1918,[footnote 1] shall at least once every year treat especially of the ways and means of providing effectively for modesty in women's dress.

XII. In order that this salutary action may proceed with greater efficacy and security, Bishops and other Ordinaries of places shall every third year, together with their report on religious instruction mentioned in the Motu proprio, Orbem Catholicum, of 29 June, 1923,[footnote 2] also inform this Sacred Congregation upon the situation as regards women's dress, and upon the measures that will have been taken in pursuance of this Instruction.

[Source of translation:] AAS 22-26; S.C. Conc., Instruction, 12 Jan., 1930. Periodica, 19-195.

[Footnotes:]

1. See c. 6; AAS 10-136.

2. See c. 1329; AAS 15-327.

Source: "Council of Vigilance: To Treat of Modesty in Women's Dress (Instruction, S.C. Conc.) AAS 22-26, 12 Jan., 1930," Canon Law Digest 1 (1917-1933): 212–214.

Under: Book II, Persons, Canon 363:

§1. The diocesan Curia consists of those persons who render assistance in the governance of the whole diocese to the Bishop or others who govern the diocese in the place of the Bishop.

§2. Belonging to it, therefore, are the Vicar General, officialis, chancellor, promoter of justice, defender of the bond, synodal judges and examiners, pastor consultors, auditors, notaries, couriers, and citation servers.

[Translation source: Edward N. Peters, The 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law in English Translation with Extensive Scholarly Apparatus (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2001), 144.]

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An alternate English translation may be found here: https://suburbanbanshee.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/de-inhonesto-feminarum-vestiendi-more/

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[The following is copied from the online scanned edition of the AAS on the Vatican website; some of the Latin is undoubtedly mis-scanned. Unlike the earlier AAS, where the page numbers are 22-26, in this edition, the pages are 26-28. Here is a link to the relevant file on the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-22-1930-ocr.pdf]

[26] SACRA CONGREGATIO CONCILII INSTRUCTIO AD ORDINARIOS DIOECESANOS: DE INHONESTO FEMINARUM VESTIENDI MORE

Vi supremi apostolatus, quo in universa Ecclesia divinitus fungitur, Ssmus Dominus Noster Pius Papa XI verbis et scriptis nunquam destitit illud S. Pauli (I ad Tim., II, 9,10) inculcare, videlicet: «mulieres in habitu ornato cum verecundia et sobrietate ornantes se, et... quod decet mulieres, promittentes pietatem per opera bona ».

Ac saepenumero, occasione data, idem Summus Pontifex improbavit acerrimeque damnavit inhonestum vestiendi morem in catholicarum quoque mulierum ac puellarum usum hodie passim inductum, qui non modo femineum decus atque ornamentum graviter offendit, sed nedum in temporalem earumdem feminarum perniciem verum etiam, quod peius est, in sempiternam, itemque in aliorum ruinam miserrime vertit.

Nihil igitur mirum, si Episcopi ceterique locorum Ordinarii, sicut decet ministros Christi, in sua quisque dioecesi pravae huiusmodi licentiae ac procacitati modis omnibus unaque voce obstiterunt, derisiones nonnumquam ac ludibria ob hanc causam sibi a malevolis illata aequo fortique animo tolerantes.

Itaque hoc Sacrum Consilium cleri populique disciplinae provehendae cum eiusmodi Sacrorum Antistitum vigilantiam et actionem merita probatione ac laude prosequatur, tum eosdem vehementer hortatur ut consilia atque incepta opportune inita insistant et alacrius pro viribus urgeant, quoadusque hic pestíferas morbus ex honesta hominum consortione penitus extirpetur.

Quod ut facilius ac tutius ad effectum deducatur, haec Sacra Congregatio, de mandato Sanctissimi Domini, ea quae sequuntur ad rem statuere decrevit:

I. Parochi praesertim et concionatores, data occasione, secundum illud Apostoli Pauli (II ad Tim., IV, 2) instent, arguant, obsecrent, increpent ut feminae vestes gestent, quae verecundiam sapiant quaeque sint ornamentum et praesidium virtutis; moneantque parentes ne filiae indecoras vestes gestare sinant.

[27] II. Parentes, memores gravissimae obligationis qua tenentur prolis educationem in primis religiosam et moralem curandi, peculiarem adhibeant diligentiam, ut puellae a primis annis in doctrina christiana solide instituantur atque in earum animo ipsi, verbis et exemplo, amorem virtutum modestiae et castitatis impense foveant; fairiiliam vero, Sacrae Familiae exempla imitati, ita constituere atque gubernare satagant, ut singuli verecundiae amandae atque servandae inter domesticos parietes habeant causam et invitamentum.

III. Parentes iidem filias a publicis exercitationibus et concursibus gymmcis arceant; si vero eisdem filiae interesse cogantur, curent ut vestes adhibeant quae honestatem plene praeseferant; inhonestas vero vestes illas gestare nunquam sinant.

I[V]. Collegiorum moderatrices et scholarum magistrae modestiae amore puellarum animos ita imbuere enitantur, ut eaedem ad honeste vestiendum efficaciter inducantur.

[V]. Eaedem moderatrices ac magistrae puellas, ne ipsarum quidem matribus exceptis, quae vestes minus honestas gestent, in collegia et scholas ne admittant, admissasque, nisi resipiscant* dimittant.

VI. Religiosae, iuxta litteras die xxiii mensis Augusti, a. MDCCCCXXVI[II], datas a Sacrae Congregatione de Religiosis, in sua collegia, scholas, oratoria, recreatoria puellas ne admittant, admissas ne tolèrent, quae christianum vestiendi morem non servent: ipsae vero in alumnis educandis peculiare adhibeant studium, ut in earum animo sancti pudoris et verecundiae christianae amor altas radices agat.

VII. Piae instituantur et foveantur feminarum Associationes, quae consilio, exemplo et opere finem sibi praestituant cohibendi abusus in vestibus gestandis christianae modestiae haud congruentibus et promovendi morum puritatem ac vestiendi honestatem.

VIII. In pias Associationes feminarum ne illae admittantur, quae inhonestas vestes induant; admissae vero, si quid postea hac in re peccent et monitae non resipiscant, expellantur.

I[X.] Puellae et mulieres, quae inhonestas vestes induunt, a Sancta Communione et a munere matrinae in sacramentis Baptismi et Confirmationis arceantur, atque, si casus ferat, ab ipso ecclesiae ingressu prohibeantur.

X. Cum incidunt per annum festa, quae modestiae christianae inculcandam peculiarem exhibeant opportunitatem, praesertim, vero.festa B. M. Virginis, parochi et sacerdotes piarum Unionum et Catholicarum Consociationum moderatores feminas ad christianum vestiendi morem, opportuno sermone revocare atque excitare ne praetermittant. In festo autem Beatae Mariae Virginis sine labe conceptae peculiares preces in omnibus cathedra-

[28] libus et paroecialibus ecclesiis quovis anno peragantur, habitis, ubi fieri potest, opportunis cohortationibus in soHemni ad populum concione.

[XI]. Consilium dioecesanum a vigilantia, de quo in declaratione Sancti Officii die xxii mensis Martii, a. MDCCCCX VIII data, semel saltem in anno de aptioribus modis ac rationibus ad feminarum modestiae efficaciter consulendum ex professo agat.

XII. Quo vero haec salutaris actio efficaciter et tutior succédât, Episcopi aliique locorum Ordinarii, tertio quoque anno, una simul cum relatione de religiosa, institutione, de qua in Litteris Orbem catholicum die xxi x mensis Iunii, a. MDCCCCXXin Motu proprio datis, etiam de rerum conditione ac statu circa feminarum vestiendi morem deque operibus ad normam huius Instructionis praestitis, hanc Sacram Congregationem certiorem reddant.

Datum Romae, ex aedibus Sacrae Congregationis Concilii, die XII mensis Ianuarii in festo Sacrae Familiae, anno MDCCCCXXX.

£8 D. CAED. SBARBETTI, Episc. Sabinen, et Mandelen., Praefectus.
L. $ S.
Iulius, Ep. Lampsacen., Secretarius.