You want to know my most petty and fussy church-related opinion? Of course you do. Get ready for this:

Bishops with matching mitres and vestments. They’re a Bad Thing.

Why, you may ask? Because the mitre was originally a simple vestment adopted by the church from Byzantine court dress to signify a bishop’s authority from the apostles

In its developed form in the western church, the mitre took three forms: the white ‘mitre simplex’, the gold ‘mitre auphrygiata’, and the decorated ‘precious mitre’. Each was worn at different times, for different reasons: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitre 

This may seem fussy, and the general trend to simplification in the liturgy might argue against three types of mitres. But apart from precious mitres, the old garments were comparatively simple:

Moreover, the system of three mitres could represent different things. The mitre auphrygiata, the bishop’s teaching authority and apostolic descent:

The precious mitre, the church’s joy on a festival day (and the general feudal nature of bishops in the bad old days):

And, mostly importantly, the mitre simplex, representing collegiality, submission to the wider church, and simplicity in services relating to death or penitence. Best illustrated by Vatican II. These bishops are not wearing hats to show off, but as a college of teachers:

This last one is very important. For we never think of a mitre as an image of humility or simplicity now, or as adding to the penitential feeling of an occasion. Bishops embodying the feeling of the community by what they wear - it’s a good thing.

This has all gradually disappeared, apart from in really trad RC and Anglican parishes. And mostly been replaced by matching vestments and mitres. This is bad for two reasons:

1) What we’ve lost. A mitre is no longer a polyvalent symbol that can mean, at different times, collegiality, authority, submission and joy. Instead, all it says is ‘See, I’m a bishop.’

2) What we’ve gained. Matching mitre has often gone along with custom-made vestments, in place of what was once a simple vestment. This means bishops show up in their own clobber, rather than wear the parish’s vestments, emphasising the difference between ‘them and us.’

(Illustrated, slightly provocatively, with two well known bishops!)

So that’s the thread. It’s fussy, pedantic and definitely not something anyone should go to the stake over. But I hope it’s also entertaining, informative, and perhaps illustrates how leaving behind traditions sometimes means we lose good things we’re only half aware of.

Hope you all enjoy it!