Mantilla - in Roman Catholicism

In Roman Catholicism

Based on an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, it has been traditional in many countries for women to wear some form of Christian headcovering in church. The light mantilla was often preferred to the more cumbersome hat. The custom is rarely observed today.

Mantillas are still often worn by women, especially Catholics, when received in formal audience by the Pope. On such occasions, black mantillas were worn by Laura Bush in 2006, members of Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg at the papal inauguration of 2005, and Michelle Obama in 2009. By contrast, Irish President Mary Robinson, Soviet UnionFirst Lady Raisa Gorbachev, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all met popes without wearing mantillas. Others who have worn black mantillas include Yulia Tymoshenko, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, first ladies from Malaysia, Jordan, Iran, and Lebanon and ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. In accordance with what is known as the privilège du blanc, whereby Catholic female monarchs and the consorts of Catholic monarchs wear white when meeting the Pope, while black is traditionally, though now only optionally, worn by others, Queen Sofia of Spain wore a white mantilla at the requiem mass for John Paul II and at the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.