monsignor

plural monsignors · plural monsignori · alternative Monsignor · alternative Msgr. · alternative Mons.

1. CatholicismAn ecclesiastic title bestowed on some Roman Catholic clerics by the Pope.

   He paid half the $850 monthly tuition, and the church monsignor covered the rest.

   2007 February 4, Alexis Rehrmann, “Her Parents Couldn’t Take Care of Her. This Home Could.”, in New York Times

   5 more examples

   He goes one day to hear Father Hecker preach on the Destiny of Man, on another to hear Monsignor Pie, Bishop of Poitiers, then Archbishop Manning, and again Monsignor Mermillod and Father Burke. […] We have just made her a grand festa for her day, the 20th—twelve Masses, cardinal, two archbishops, two monsignori, the other seven, priests.

   1892, “Great Events in Rome”, in John Morris, editor, The Life of Mother Henrietta Kerr, Religious of the Sacred Heart, 3rd edition, Roehampton, pages 182 and 197

   We were passed on from one room to another, and finally came to a halt in a large square room, where there were more priests, one or two monsignori, in their violet robes, and two officers. […] We had barely time to exchange a few remarks, as Monsignor Bicletis was waiting for us to advance.

   1905, Mary King Waddington, “Italy Revisited”, in Italian Letters of a Diplomat’s Wife; January–May 1880; February–April, 1904, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pages 249–250

   He wore the dress of an abbot and was accompanied by two monsignori in simple black. […] It was a letter from Monsignor Chatrousse, the Bishop of Valence in France.

   1955, Francis Beauchesne Thornton, Cross upon Cross: The Life of Pope Pius IX, New York, N.Y.: Benziger Brothers, Inc., pages 83 (The Pope Begins His Reign) and 114 (The Flight to Gaeta)

   He was accompanied by two monsignori, one of whom was Henry Cosgrove, an acquaintance of mine from Brooklyn. […] “It is obvious that I need no translator. Henry,” I said, turning to the American monsignor, “you can be my secretary.”

   1999, Francis X[avier] Murphy, “Introduction to the 1999 Edition”, in Vatican Council II, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, →ISBN, page xii

   He had only been in office for a couple of months when the brilliant polymath, Monsignor Ivan Illich, was summoned to Rome. Illich was an American citizen of mixed Spanish, German, Croat and Jewish origins, and a priest of New York archdiocese who worked in Cuernavaca in Mexico to prepare missionaries for Latin America. Two minor CDF monsignori, Sergio de Magistris and Giuseppe Casoria, attempted to interrogate him in the back rooms of the Palazzo.

   2001, Paul Collins, “Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio”, in From Inquisition to Freedom: Seven Prominent Catholics and Their Struggle with the Vatican, Sydney, N.S.W.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 19

plural Monsignori · plural Monsignors

1. Alternative letter-case form of monsignor.

   Unlike other previous Prelates, who were swiftly anointed bishops, Francis did not follow suit. Ocáriz remained a Monsignor. In the eyes of many observers, it was a demotion of Opus Dei.

   2024 March 16, Antonia Cundy, “The Opus Dei diaries”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18

   1 more example

   Brother Matteo is a Capuchin, of course, so he eats pretty frugally: bread and water, vegetables and fruit, no meat, no cheese. And poor old Father Bechetti lost his appetite when he lost his teeth. So it’s really the three Monsignors who do the feasting.

   2011, Gyles Brandreth, Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders, London: John Murray, →ISBN, page 123