Santiago Cathedral staff

[periperi]

not sure if this is a FAQ, but not being very familiar with catholicism, I was wondering if anyone know the proper terms for the official bods you see in Santiago cathedral? I can cope with nuns, that's pretty simple, but there are lots of men- are they all priests/monks, and are they church employees, volunteers? Erm- and no offence is implied by the vocab- I'm in an irreverent mood- being able to travel the camino with catholics and understand what it's about has been really cool and insightful.

You've got the mass people- some important dude with his 2 main helper guys (one of my masses the main dude was wearing sparkly gold and a particularly special hat, had extra decorated helper guys and swished incense about as he entered the cathedral), I expect that's going to be a bit too specific, but the gang of white-robed people with green sashes- is there a proper term for them (one of my pilgrim family -a priest- was one; are they all priests?).

And you've got the guys in red robes (of varying qualities)- what are they? They look quite happy to be there, as if they're volunteers- is the case?

And the guys in blue robes (silencio por favor) - who look like they should be monks? Are they? Is there a difference between one who wears and ordinary robe and one who has a mantle attached to the robe?

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

It can be confusing and I often wonder what a Martian arriving would make of it. So I'll take a deep breath and have a go:

I suspect the "main dude with the particularly special hat" was the Archbishop or a visiting bishop. The hat is called a Mitre.

The gang of white robe people with green sashes of whom your friend the priest was one were indeed other priests who were joining in saying the Mass. The white robe is an alb and the green sash is the stole - the symbol of priesthood. The colours change depending on what is being celebrated just to confuse things.

The guys in the red robes (indeed of varying quality) are the tiraboleiros. They are not priests. They are employees of the cathedral. They help at the Mass and take up the collection. 8 of them operate the botafumeiro - the great incensor.

The blue robed guys who make alot of noise calling for silence (silencio por favor) are also not priests or monks. They are members of an organisation called Commanders of the Order of St Michael the Archangel - this is a voluntary organisation like the Knight of St Columba. Really they simply ushers all dressed up.

You can see a picture of them here: http://johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot. ... grims.html

I assume the yellow mantle is like patrol leader stripes in the Boy Scouts.

And finally, just to show how sad I am for knowing this, there is the Pertiguero - currently he is the small, very portly, red faced wee man who wears another kind of robe and walks in front of the Archbishop with the Mace which he taps on the floor to make way. In England we would know him as the Beadle. Until recently he also wore a wig: