That is an interesting discussion.
It seems to me that smoking cigarettes is seem as a bad habit and would make the priest appear mundane and frivolous, while a priest smoking a cigar would be seen as a luxury loving man.
Now, a priest smoking a pipe would look like some sort of very intelligent and intellectual cleric.
Exactly right. There are in fact some things that are culturally relativist. So, for instance, going back toward the beginning of the Church, in Rome, men who wore beards were considered boorish and barbaric. In fact, the term for barbarian is related to the Latin word for beard. Meanwhile, in the East, men who didn't have beards were considered effeminate.
Similarly, the perception of smoking has changed in Western culture. If you recall, there were commercials back in the day that made smoking seem sophisticated for the ladies (with the longer, more slender cigarettes) and manly for men (Malboro man). After decades of government anti-smoking campaigns, smoking is now considered vulgar ... except, as you point out, in the case of smoking a pipe.
I recall a pre-Vatican II joke about the Jesuits, where a Jesuit was asking his superior if it was OK to smoke while he prayed. He was told that it's not appropriate. So then the Jesuit tried again, asking if it would be OK if he prayed while he smoked. To which his superior replied, "Of course, as we are told to pray always."
Topic: +Tissier to Offer Confirmations in Novus Ordo Church (Read 23878 times)