Why was the Pope's Hat/ Mitre Look Designed to Look Like a Fish?

[Azureknight 773]

Greetings all in Christ, peace and love be with you always.

I've always been bothered by people somewhere who made this:

Now, somebody out thre please help me in my time of need as one has to give me a satisfactory explanation about this. Also, please let us be attentive and bring ourselves a proper defense against those that attack the Catholic Church.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

If the bishop's miter is meant to look like a fish I think it would relate to how Jesus told his apostles to become fishers of men. The symbol of the fish took on a new meaning in Christianity.

 

[ViaCrucis]

The simple answer is that it's not. The mitre is based on an old common form of head dress known as a Phrygian cap. And it's not unique to the Pope, it's a standard form of head dress worn by bishops, throughout the Christian world. Phrygian caps--and similar forms of headwear--used to be quite common and worn by people of many different backgrounds across the ancient world. It's just that the bishop's mitre is one of the few cases where it is still in use in the modern world. In the same way the alb is based on what used to be a common simple piece of clothing, but in the modern world it is generally only found in Christian use as part of what clergy wear. As fashion changed in the secular world, what was worn for religious use in Christianity largely stayed the same, and now we have a tendency to think of such things as out of place and strange.

If bishops started wearing baseball caps, and then in a thousand years when nobody wears ball caps any longer but bishops still wore them, people might ask, "Why does a bishop's cap look like a duck?"

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Azureknight 773]

If bishops started wearing baseball caps, and then in a thousand years when nobody wears ball caps any longer but bishops still wore them, people might ask, "Why does a bishop's cap look like a duck?"

-CryptoLutheran

WIN!

Now let me put this:

 

[Dewi Sant]

The development of the two points originate (if I recall correctly), in imitation of the two horns of Moses, representing divine wisdom.
As the mitre progressed toward the gothic design, it became practical to have the hat to fold flat. This encouraged greater devotion and attention to the imagery on the front and rear (a flat surface is easier to work with).

The final form, the Baroque, is, well, Baroque. More = More.

 

[Davidnic]

MOD HAT

This thread has undergone a clean. The offending posts were removed as were posts that quoted them.

MOD HAT

 

[Rhamiel]

Awww I missed the offending comments

 

[Michie]

Awww I missed the offending comments

Typical anti-Catholic propoganda from way back.

 

[Open Heart]

Honestly, I look at the two pics of the Pope's hat and the priest of dagon, and I don't see the similarity.

 

[prodromos]

Honestly, I look at the two pics of the Pope's hat and the priest of dagon, and I don't see the similarity.

I had made a comment earlier about the likelihood of being on drugs in order to see any resemblance, but someone was apparently offended and it was subsequently removed.

 

[Open Heart]

I had made a comment earlier about the likelihood of being on drugs in order to see any resemblance, but someone was apparently offended and it was subsequently removed.

Funny. Truly, the only similarity was that they were standing in the same position.