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{{short description|Honorific form of address for certain Catholic clergy}}
{{Redirect|Mgr.|the 1982 film|Monsignor (film)|the French equivalent|Monseigneur|7=|}}
[[File:James_Loughlin_G365.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Monsignor James F. Loughlin. The ecclesiastical dress of priests styled monsignor is similar to that of bishops]]
{{Catholic Church Hierarchy|Administrative and pastoral titles}}'''Monsignor''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ɒ|n|ˈ|s|iː|n|j|ər}}; {{langx|it|monsignore}} {{IPA|it|monsiɲˈɲoːre|}}) is a [[form of address]] or title for certain members of the clergy in the [[Catholic Church]]. Monsignor is the [[apocope|apocopic]] form of the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as '''Mons.'''<ref name=":0">{{Citation |title=The New York Times |date=15 February 1918 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/02/15/archives/right-rev-mgr-james-s-duffy.html |url-access=registration}}.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Citation |title=The Rt Rev Mgr Graham Leonard |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/6943119/The-Rt-Rev-Mgr-Graham-Leonard.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=6 January 2010 |type=obituary |place=[[United Kingdom|UK]]}}.</ref><ref name=":2">{{Citation |title=Deceased clergy |url=http://www.catholicdirectory.com.au/deceasedclergy |publisher=Australian Catholic Directory}}.</ref><ref name=":3">{{Citation |title=Clergy within Diocese |url=http://www.rcdop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=62 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905091329/http://www.rcdop.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=62 |place=UK |publisher=Romanist catholic Diocese of Paisley |archive-date=September 5, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> or '''Msgr.'''{{Efn | Especially in the United States e.g. Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas,<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.cathdal.org/default.asp?contentID=14 |title=Catholic Dallas |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217054420/https://www.cathdal.org/default.asp?contentID=14 |archive-date=December 17, 2014 }}</ref> Diocese of Miami,<ref>{{Citation|date=2009-03-09 |url=http://www.miamiarch.org/Bulletin/Bulletin_090309.pdf |title=Bulletin |publisher=Miami Archdiocese |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011013607/http://www.miamiarch.org/bulletin/Bulletin_090309.pdf |archive-date=October 11, 2010 }}</ref> Diocese of Tyler.<ref>{{Citation|title=Office directory |publisher=Diocese of Tyler |url=http://www.dioceseoftyler.org/office_directory.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901204008/http://www.dioceseoftyler.org/office_directory.htm |archive-date=September 1, 2009 }}</ref>}}{{Efn | E.g. Diocese of Derry,<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.derrydiocese.org/contacts.asp |title=Contacts |publisher=Derry diocese |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124015954/http://www.derrydiocese.org/contacts.asp |archive-date=November 24, 2009 }}</ref> Parish of Zejtun, Malta.<ref>{{Citation | title = Zejtun parish | place = Malta | url = http://www.zejtunparish.com/pages/r1/zepDart.asp?m=399 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091212085335/http://www.zejtunparish.com/pages/r1/zepDart.asp?m=399 | archive-date = 2009-12-12 }}.</ref> This is the regular abbreviation in Italian.}} In some countries, the title "monsignor" is used as a form of address for bishops.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} However, in English-speaking countries, the title is unrelated to the episcopacy, though many priests with the title later become bishops.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

The title "monsignor" is a form of address, not an appointment (such as a [[bishop]] or [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]]). A priest cannot be "made a monsignor" or become "the monsignor of a parish". The title "Monsignor" is normally used by clergy who have received one of the three classes of papal honors:

* [[Protonotary Apostolic|Protonotary apostolic]] (the highest honored class)
* [[Honorary Prelate|Honorary prelate]]
* [[Chaplain of His Holiness]] (the lowest honored class)

The pope bestows these honors upon clergy who:
* Have rendered a valuable service to the church
* Provide some special function in church governance
* Are members of bodies such as certain [[chapter (religion)|chapters]]

Clerics working in the [[Roman Curia]] and the [[Foreign relations of the Holy See|Vatican diplomatic service]] are eligible for all three honors. Priests working in a diocese are only eligible for the "Chaplain of His Holiness" honor. Priests must be nominated by their bishop and (for appointments after 2013) must be at least 65 years old.

==Current honor rules==

=== Current honor classes ===
[[Pope Paul VI]], in his 1968 publication ''[[motu proprio]]'' ''[[Pontificalis Domus]]'', reduced the number of papal honors allowing "Monsignor" as a style from 14 to three. The protonotary apostolic class was divided into two subsections.  The classes of [[Chamberlain (office)|chamberlains]] and chaplains were abolished, leaving only a single class of "chaplains of his holiness".<ref name="Cappellani">''Annuario Pontificio'' 2012, p. 1853</ref> The three papal honor classes are:
* [[Protonotary apostolic]] (two subclasses):
** ''De numero'' (the higher and less common form)
** Supernumerary (the highest grade of monsignor found outside the Vatican)
* [[Prelate of Honour of His Holiness]] (formerly the "domestic prelate")<ref name="Cappellani" />
* [[Chaplain of His Holiness]] (formerly the "supernumerary privy chamberlain")<ref name="Cappellani" />

=== Current honor eligibility ===
In March 2013, [[Pope Francis]] suspended the granting of papal honors, with the title of monsignor, to all clergy except members of the [[Foreign relations of the Holy See|Vatican diplomatic service]].<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.finesettimana.org/pmwiki/uploads/Stampa201309/130912giansoldati.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140106224623/http://www.finesettimana.org/pmwiki/uploads/Stampa201309/130912giansoldati.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 January 2014 | title = Il Messaggero | date = 12 September 2013 | publisher = Fine settimana }}.</ref><ref>{{Citation|date=Sep 2013 |url=http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/monsignor-moratorium.html |newspaper=The Tablet |publisher=Rorate Cæli |title=Pope scales back honorifics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108044215/http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/monsignor-moratorium.html |archive-date=January 8, 2014 }}</ref> However, by 2022 the title had started to be awarded again.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cbcew.org.uk/monsignor-michael-nazir-ali/ | title=Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali | date=6 April 2022 }}</ref>

At the October 2013 meeting of the [[Council of Cardinal Advisers]], Pope Francis stated his desire to scale back the honors as part of a broader effort to project a more modest and pastoral vision of leadership. As [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires|Archbishop of Buenos Aires]], Pope Francis never requested papal honors for his priests, associating the honors with clerical "careerism".

In December 2013, Pope Francis decreed that diocesan priests could become "Chaplain of His Holiness", the lowest of the three papal honors.  He also set a minimum age required of 65. Existing honors were not affected.<ref name="Stampa">{{cite news| last = O'Connell | first = Gerard| title= Pope abolishes honorary title of monsignor for diocesan priests under the age of 65 |url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/31027/ |access-date=4 January 2014 | newspaper =Vatican Insider|date=4 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="CNS">{{Citation | url = http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400044.htm | archive-url = https://archive.today/20140107054138/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400044.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2014-01-07 | newspaper = Catholic News Service | title = Pope limits 'monsignor' honor for diocesan priests |last=Rocca |first=Francis X. |date=January 6, 2014 }}</ref><ref name="VR">{{Citation | url = http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/01/07/pope_francis_reforms_ecclesiastical_honours/en1-761830 | newspaper = Vatican Radio | date = 7 January 2014 | title = Pope Francis reforms ecclesiastical honours}}.</ref> Pope Francis decided to continue papal honors from all three classes for two groups of clergy:

* Officials of the Roman Curia
* Members of the diplomatic service.<ref>{{Citation | title = Annuario Pontificio | year = 2013 | publisher = Vaticana | isbn = 978-88-209-9070-1 | pages = 1846–48}}.</ref><ref name="Pope Pius X">{{Citation | quote = Pariter, qui vicarii generalis aut etiam capitularis munere fungitur, hoc munere dumtaxat perdurante, erit protonotarius titularis | author-link = Pope Pius X | author = Pope Pius X | title = Inter multiplices curas | at = 62 | date = 21 February 1905}}.</ref>

=== Current forms of address ===
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2021}}
These are the current forms of address for a monsignor:

* The written form is ''Monsignor (first name) (last name)'' or ''The Reverend Monsignor (first name) (last name)''. For example, "Monsignor Bob Smith" or "The Reverend Monsignor Bob Smith".
* The spoken form is ''Monsignor (last name)''.{{Sfn | Secretary of State | 2000 | ps =: "26. For Supernumerary Apostolic Protonotaries, Prelates of Honour and Chaplains of His Holiness there may be used the title 'Monsignor', preceded, where appropriate, by 'Reverend'".}} For example, "Monsignor Smith".

In English-speaking countries, bishops and archbishops are not called "monsignor". However, in 1969 the Vatican [[Secretariat of State (Holy See)|Secretariat of State]] indicated that bishops may be addressed as "monsignor".  In some countries, the titles "Monsignore", "[[Monseigneur]]", "Monsenyor",  and "Monseñor" are used for bishops, archbishops and any other prelates below the rank of [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] or [[patriarch]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The 1969 instruction also indicated that for bishops "''Reverendissimus''" (translated as "most reverend") could be added to the word "monsignor".  For example, the "Most Reverend Monsignor John Doe".  This instruction also applied to:

* Prelates without episcopal rank who head offices of the [[Roman Curia]] 
* Judges of the [[Sacra Rota Romana|Rota]] 
* The promotor general of justice and the [[defender of the bond]] of the [[Apostolic Signatura]]
* Protonotaries apostolic "''de numero''" 
* The four clerics of the camera.{{Sfn | Secretary of State | 2000 | loc = 23–25}}

=== Current ecclesiastical dress ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
In 1979, the Vatican simplified the [[choir dress|dress]] of monsignors:

==== Chaplains of His Holiness ====
Purple-trimmed black [[cassock]]s with purple [[Fascia (sash)|sashes]], good for all occasions.

==== Honorary prelates ====
Red-trimmed black cassocks with purple sashes, good for all occasions. Purple cassocks as choir dress for liturgical events of special solemnity.

==== Supernumerary protonotaries apostolics ====
Red-trimmed black cassocks with purple sashes. Purple cassocks as choir dress.  Can also wear the purple ''[[ferraiuolo]]'', a silk cape.  The ferraiuolo is for non-liturgical events, such as graduation and commencement ceremonies.

==== Protonotaries apostolics ''de numero'' ====
Red-trimmed black cassocks with purple sashes and the purple ''[[ferraiuolo]]''. Purple cassocks as choir dress.  They can wear the [[mantelletta]] in choir dress with a black [[biretta]] with a red tuft.

==Previous honor rules==
=== Previous honor classes ===
The Catholic church originally maintained 14 classes of papal honors.  A priest with the title of "privy chamberlain" would lose the title when the pope who granted it died. When the pope abolished the privy chamberlain class in 1968, the rule was abolished also.<ref name="Cappellani" /> {{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}<ref name="Stampa" /><ref name="CNS" /><ref name="VR" /> These 14 previous classes included:

* [[Domestic prelate of his holiness|Domestic prelates]] 
* Four kinds of [[protonotary apostolic|protonotaries apostolic]], 
* Four kinds of papal chamberlains, and at least 
* Five types of papal chaplains.{{Sfn | Galles | 1999}}
The 14 honor categories were reduced to three categories in 1969.

=== Previous age requirements ===
Under Pope Paul VI, the Secretariat of State set minimum qualifications of age and priesthood for the three papal honor classes:

* Chaplains of his holiness – minimum age 35 and 10 years as priest
* Honorary prelates – minimum age 45 and 15 years as priest
* Protonotaries apostolic supernumerary – minimum age 55 and 20 years as priest

The Secretariat waived the minimum-age limit for vicars general proposed for appointment as honorary prelates.  The reasoning was that as long as a priest holds the office of vicar general, he is also protonotary apostolic supernumerary. A vicar general could not be named chaplain of his holiness. All these criteria were superseded in 2013.<ref name="Stampa" />

=== Previous forms of address ===
* Priests with the title "Chaplain of His Holiness" were formerly addressed in English as "''The Very Reverend Monsignor''". 
* Priests with the titles "Protonotary Apostolic" or honorary prelate were addressed as "''The Right Reverend Monsignor''".

These forms were changed in 1969.<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:External Ornaments of an Apostolic protonotary.svg|Generic [[coat of arms]] of a protonotary apostolic: [[amaranth (color)|amaranth]] [[galero]] with 12 scarlet tassels
File:External Ornaments of a Domestic Prelate.svg|Generic coat of arms of an honorary prelate: amaranth galero with 12 violet tassels
File:External Ornaments of a Chaplain of His Holiness.svg|Generic coat of arms of a chaplain of his holiness: black galero with 12 violet tassels
</gallery>

==Other monsignors==
Under the legislation of [[Pope Pius X]], [[vicar general|vicars general]] and [[vicar capitular|vicars capitular]] (now called diocesan administrators) are titular (not actual) Protonotaries ''durante munere.''  As long as these priests hold the office, they can have the title "monsignor".<ref name="Pope Pius X"/> Vicars general and diocesan administrators were allowed to wear:

* A black, silk-fringed sash ([[fascia (sash)|fascia]]), 
* Black piping on the biretta with a black tuft<ref>"Super habitu quotidiano, occasione solemnis conventus, audientiae et similium... zonam tantum sericam nigram, cum laciniis item nigris, gestare poterunt, cum pileo chordula ac floccis nigris ornato" (''Inter multiplices curas'', 67).</ref> 
* A black mantelletta

As a result of this they were in some countries referred to as "black protonotaries".{{Sfn | Noonan | 1996}}{{Page needed | date = January 2014}} However, ''Pontificalis domus'' of Paul VI removed this position (titular protonotaries) from the [[Papal Household]], even though the title of "monsignor", which is to be distinguished from a prelatial rank, has not been withdrawn from vicars general, as can be seen, for instance, from the placing of the abbreviated title "Mons." before the name of every member of the secular (diocesan) clergy listed as a vicar general in the ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

==See also==
* [[Archpriest]]
* [[Catholic Church hierarchy]]
* [[Milord]]
* [[Monsieur]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{CathEncy|first=Paul Maria|last=Baumgarten|wstitle =Monsignor}}
* {{CathEncy|first=A.|last=Boudinhon|wstitle =Monseigneur}}
* {{citation|url=http://www.st-joseph-foundation.org/cfd17-2.htm|title=Chaplains of His Holiness|last=Galles|first=Duane LCM|publisher=St. Joseph Foundation|date=March 19, 1999|access-date=2006-09-01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120601010112/http://www.st-joseph-foundation.org/cfd17-2.htm|archive-date=June 1, 2012}}
* {{cite book | last= Heim | first= Bruno Bernard | author-link= Bruno Heim | title= Heraldry in the Catholic Church | year=1978 | publisher=Humanities Press | isbn=0-391-00873-0}}
* {{CathEncy|last=Kirsch|first=J.P.|wstitle=Prothonotary Apostolic}}
* {{citation | first= Cardinal |last= Secretary of State | publisher = The Vatican | title=Instruction on the dress, titles and coat-of-arms of cardinals, bishops and lesser prelates | work =[[L'Osservatore Romano]] | orig-year =28 March 1969 | page = 4 | url = http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/instruction69.htm | access-date=2006-09-01 | editor-first = Salvador | editor-last = Miranda | year = 2000 | volume = II}} [http://catholicsites.org/clericaldress/utsivesollicite.html Latin text] of the Instruction, with an unofficial English translation.
* {{citation | last=Noonan | first=James-Charles jr | title=The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church | year=1996 | publisher=Viking | isbn=0-670-86745-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/315 315–16] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/315 }}
* {{Citation | first = Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria | last = Montini | author-link = Pope Paul VI | date = 28 March 1968 | title = Pontificalis domus |trans-title=On the Papal Household, Reform of the Use of Pontifical Insignia, Simplification of Pontifical Rites and Insignia | place = Washington, D.C. | publisher = United States Catholic Conference | url = https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680328_pontificalis-domus_lt.html | language = la}}, [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680328_pontificalis-domus_it.html ''Italian'']
* {{Citation | first = Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria | last = Montini | author-link = Pope Paul VI | date = 21 June 1968 | title = Pontificalis insignia |trans-title=Pontifical insignia | place = Rome, IT | publisher = The Vatican | author-mask = 3| url = https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680621_pontificalia-insignia_lt.html | language = la}}, [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680621_pontificalia-insignia_it.html ''Italian'']

[[Category:Chaplains of His Holiness|*]]
[[Category:Major orders in the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Honorary titles of the Holy See]]
[[Category:Italian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Catholic ecclesiastical titles]]
[[Category:Ecclesiastical styles]]