Episcopal gloves

The Episcopal gloves or Pontifical gloves (chirothecœ, called also at an earlier date manicœ, wanti) are a Roman Catholic pontifical vestment worn a by bishop when celebrating Solemn Pontifical Mass. The Episcopal gloves are worn from the beginning of the Mass until the offertory, when they are removed. The gloves can be elaborately embroidered, and they generally match the liturgical color of the Mass, except that they are not worn for Good Friday or Requiem Masses. While the episcopal gloves are normally reserved for bishops, other prelates that are entitled to use pontificals, including abbots, may use them as well without a special papal privilege.

While the use of the Episcopal gloves is still permitted, they are very rarely seen except in celebrations of the 1962 form of the Roman Rite or yet earlier forms. The gloves are considered symbolic of purity, the performance of good works and carefulness in procedure.

The Caeremoniale Episcoporum, as revised in 1984, no longer imposes on bishops of the Roman Catholic Church the use of episcopal gloves when celebrating Mass solemnly, but they are still used in such celebrations of the Tridentine Mass forms of the Roman Rite. Anglo-Catholic and Old Catholic bishops also sometimes make use of the Episcopal gloves, especially when celebrating forms of the Tridentine Mass.

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