{"id":86253,"date":"2026-01-29T11:06:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/?p=86253"},"modified":"2026-01-29T11:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:06:31","slug":"liturgy-part-3-what-is-the-zucchetto-and-when-do-the-pope-and-bishops-remove-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/2026\/01\/29\/liturgy-part-3-what-is-the-zucchetto-and-when-do-the-pope-and-bishops-remove-it\/","title":{"rendered":"LITURGY (Part 3): What is the zucchetto, and when do the Pope and bishops remove it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The white zucchetto is one of the defining features of papal attire.

<\/strong>The Pontiff rarely removes it\u2026 However, take a look at what\u2019s about to happen\u2026

<\/strong>This happens in every Eucharistic celebration. At the moment of the prayer, the Pope is seen with his head uncovered\u2014without the zucchetto.

However, this gesture doesn\u2019t only happen during Mass. It also takes place at another moment: during Eucharistic adoration.

<\/strong>But what does it mean?

RAM\u00d3N NAVARRO<\/strong>
Director, Episcopal Commission for the Liturgy (CEE)<\/em>
The zucchetto, as its name suggests, \u201csoli Deo\u201d (for God alone) is removed only before God. The Pope and bishops always keep their heads covered, except during the Eucharistic prayer, out of reverence for the real presence of Christ. Only before God, only before the sacramental presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species, is it removed.

<\/em>It was around the 15th century that this liturgical ornament began to be used. It also comes in different colors according to ecclesiastical rank: white for the Pope, purple for bishops, and red for cardinals.



The earlier version was called the camauro<\/strong>. This is what you're seeing on screen now...

RAM\u00d3N NAVARRO<\/strong>
Director, Episcopal Commission for the Liturgy (CEE)<\/em>
There used to be other versions, like a type of cap, also much larger, made of red velvet.


<\/em>And those images are of Pope John XXIII. In fact, if you visit St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, where his body lies for veneration, you\u2019ll see him wearing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he's not the only exception. Pope Benedict XVI also wore it in December 2005 to cope with Rome\u2019s cold temperatures.


But going back to the zucchetto, the rules about when to take it off or put it on aren\u2019t strict formulas. There are situations that go beyond theory. Like everything in life\u2014unexpected moments happen...<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trans. CRT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The white zucchetto is one of the defining features of papal attire.The Pontiff rarely removes it\u2026 However, take a look at what\u2019s about to happen\u2026This happens in every Eucharistic celebration. At the moment of the prayer, the Pope is seen with his head uncovered\u2014without the zucchetto. However, this gesture doesn\u2019t only happen during Mass. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":86254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EcSQYpdjXZM","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bsolideoeng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bsolideoint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86253"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86258,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86253\/revisions\/86258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}