Why do some cardinals wear different?

The Cardinal College is, by definition, a diverse body. This diversity is not only expressed in the continents represented, spoken languages ​​or cultures of origin, but also in something visible to the naked eye: clothing.

There are five cardinal electors who use different costumes to the traditional red cassocks. They represent the different Catholic oriental rites to which they belong.

Baselios Cleemis (65 years)

Here: Siro-Malankara (India)

Cardinal Cleemis, from the Siro-Malankara church, wears a traditional dark habit, accompanied by a mantle and miter typical of this tradition. This rite, of Syriac origin and established in the southwest of India, retains ancient liturgical forms linked to the Churches of Antioch.

Mykola bychok (45 years)

Rite: Ukrainian Greco-Catholic

The Ukrainian Bychok, the youngest cardinal in the conclave, who exercises his episcopal ministry in Australia, uses Byzantine robes and characteristic ornaments of the Greco-Catholic rite, in communion with Rome but heir to the Slavic Byzantine liturgy. His clothing includes Oriental mitra and not the usual red cardinal tunic.

George Jacob Koovakad (51 years)

Here: Siro-Malabar (India)

Cardinal Koovakad wears white, as is customary in the climate of southern India, and uses an eastern liturgical hat instead of the Red Birreta. The Siro-Malabar rite is one of the oldest in the world, with apostolic roots linked to Saint Thomas and a strong oriental siríaca influence.

Luis Rafael I Sako (75 years)

Here: CALDEO (IRAK)

As Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Cardinal Sako wears the dark habit and miter of the Chaldean rite. This rite, which comes from ancient Mesopotamia, retains elements of the Aramea liturgical tradition, with a deep attachment to the history of the first Christian communities.

Berhaneyesus Demerew Souphiel (76 years old)

Rite: Ethiopia (Ethiopia)

The white clothing with embroidery that this cardinal wears reflects its belonging to the Catholic Ethiopian rite, an expression of the eastern liturgy in Africa. Its liturgical forms have roots in the Alexandrian tradition and are celebrated in language ge’eza Semitic liturgical language.

In addition, there are two other cardinals who do not use traditional cassock but belong to the Latin rite. They carry a white habit. They are the Dominicans Radcliffe and Vesco.

Timothy Radcliffe (79 years)

Order: Dominico (United Kingdom)

The British Dominican is the only non -bishop cardinal of the conclave. Radcliffe does not use the red robe, but the white habit and the black layer characteristic of the Dominican friars, founded in the thirteenth century with a preacher mission.

Jean-Paul Vesco (63 years)

Order: Dominico (France/Algeria)

Dominico also, Cardinal Vesco, Archbishop of Alger (Algeria) maintains the same option: its white habit and Dominican black layer replace traditional cardinal clothing. Your choice visualizes the commitment to poverty and community life of your order.