Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

There is an old saying that clothes make the man. I am still a work in progress, as I have never been one to pay attention to fashion. My sister claims that I constantly embarrass her because my suits don’t match. Hey, they’re black; that’s all I care about. She was so frustrated that she sewed colored ribbons in them for me to match the right clothes. It was like Garanimals (a clothing company that teaches kids how to match clothes by putting symbols on them – monkeys with monkeys, lions with lions, etc.) for adults. For me, it didn’t work.
 
Now, I have nothing against those who are fashion conscious. They have a talent I just don’t possess. As a priest, the cassock is a great piece of clothing because it covers up a multitude of sins (holes in pants, tears in shirts, or even a busted zipper).
 
This past Saturday, I was asked to wear a little throwback to the 1800s. It was the celebration of my predecessor, Bishop John Martin Henni, on the anniversary of his arrival to his new diocese, Milwaukee, in the Wisconsin territory. I dressed in the house cassock (black with red trim and red buttons), but for the headgear, the organizers decided that I should wear a cappello romano (a Roman hat) that would have been familiar to the clergy of 1844.
 
There were a number of comments expressed in response to my wearing the cappello romano. “Did you get that out of the archives? Was that Bishop Henni’s hat? It makes you look ten years younger.” Of course it did, since the hat style is over 100 years old. Personally, I thought I looked like Harrison Ford in the film “Witness.”
 
It was important to mark the day, May 4, 2019, because it is the 175th anniversary of the day that Bishop John Martin Henni arrived. I arrived in Milwaukee on November 14, 2009, and was introduced to the community at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. If they ever commemorate my arrival, I would suggest that my successor should be wearing a stocking cap, preferably black.
 
Please don’t tell my sister if you spot the inconsistency in my suits. But, if she decides to attempt once again to train me in my clothing style, then maybe you could suggest that instead of colored ribbons, she should sew in LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
 

Note: This blog originally appeared as the May 7, 2019 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.