Maniple (vestment)

The maniple is a liturgical vestment used primarily within the Catholic Church, and occasionally used by some Anglo-Catholic and Lutheran clergy. It is an embroidered band of silk or similar fabric that when worn hangs from the left arm. It is only used within the context of the Mass, and it is of the same liturgical colour as the other Mass vestments.

In its 1967 instruction, Tres abhinc annos, issued while the Tridentine Mass was still the form used in the Roman Rite, the Sacred Congregation of Rites removed the obligation to use the maniple at Mass:

The maniple is no longer required.

Thereafter, the maniple generally fell out of liturgical use, but is often worn by those who, as authorized by Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, use the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.

As Mauro Gagliardi, a consultor to the office for the Pope's liturgical ceremonies, wrote in an article on the prayers that, in the Tridentine Mass, the priest says when putting on the vestments:

The maniple is an article of liturgical dress used in the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Holy Mass of the Roman Rite. It fell into disuse in the years of the post-conciliar reform, even though it was never abrogated.

Citing this remark of Gagliardi, John Zuhlsdorf has argued that, since the 1967 document did not formally abolish the maniple, only saying it was no longer required, the maniple may be used even in what since 1970 is the ordinary form of Mass.

Edward McNamara, Professor of Liturgy at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, has rejected that view:

Another reader asked about some vestments no longer in use: "I noticed one who had offered the new rite but wore the maniple. ... The rationale was that the maniple had not been suppressed, but simply that it was no longer required." I do not think that the rationale justifying the use of the maniple ... is correct. It is not necessary for the Holy See to issue a decree abolishing every single detail. When ... the legislator lists the vestments to be worn, then logically any further additions no longer correspond to the norms."

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