Copy letter from Fr. Kevin Moynihan
Copy letter from Fr. Kevin Moynihan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, to Fr. Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap., Definitor General, on the question of whether the Capuchin friars in America should be required to wear beards. Father Kevin notes that many priests in America, particularly the younger ones, objected to the beard. They argued it caused a ‘grave incommodum’ (serious inconvenience) to their missionary work. Reference is made to America’s ‘peculiar customs’ and ‘extraordinary views on Hygiene’.
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- Level of description
- Item
- Date
- 15 Nov. 1929
- Reference
- 5
- Extent and medium
- 1 p.; typescript
- Scope and content
- Copy letter from Fr. Kevin Moynihan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, to Fr. Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap., Definitor General, on the question of whether the Capuchin friars in America should be required to wear beards. Father Kevin notes that many priests in America, particularly the younger ones, objected to the beard. They argued it caused a ‘grave incommodum’ (serious inconvenience) to their missionary work. Reference is made to America’s ‘peculiar customs’ and ‘extraordinary views on Hygiene’.
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- Irish Capuchin Archives
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- Irish Capuchin Archives > Papers of the Irish Capuchin Mission in the United States > Missionary Correspondence > Other Correspondence
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- Fr. Kevin of Boyle. Min. Provincial
- Fraternally Yours in Christ and S Francis
- Fr. Kevin of Boyle. Min. Provincial
Full Transcript (OCR, 1 pages)
Machine-generated OCR transcript. Handwritten material may contain recognition errors.
Page 1
Copy Capuchin Convent Fr. Mathew Guay Cork. 15th Nov. 1929. Dear Fr. Sylvester The question of wearing the beard by our Fathers in America arose at a meeting of the Definitory here. The matter seems to have reached an acute stage and we have decided to ask you to request a ruling from the General Definitory. As you are aware the question is by no means an easy one. It is further complicated by the fact that in the other provinces in America a number of the Fathers do not wear the beard. We realise that it is not from absence of Religious spirit that many of our priests especially the younger object to the wearing of the beard. They say that there exists a grave incommodum in observing this regulation of the Constitutions in America and that it interferes very much with their missionary labours owing to the peculiar customs of the Country and its extraordinary views on Hygiene and owing consequently to the attitude of the American people and in many cases of the Ecclesiastics towards the beard. Our anxiety is to safe guard the consciences of our religious in America. You can realise that it is very difficult for us to insist on our religious observing this part of the Constitutions in America when it is not observed by a number of religious in older established provinces in the United States. Fraternally Yours in Christ and S Francis Fr. Kevin of Boyle. Min. Provincial