Why do friars shave their heads?
When friars shave their head, they are practicing tonsure, the physical demonstration of their commitment to the service of God. This centuries-old practice is rarely seen among Catholic clergy today.DefinitionTonsure is the removal of hair by religious disciples as a symbol of having given up worldly concerns, such as vanity, and devoting their lives completely to God.HistoryBelieved to have started in the 7th or 8th centuries CE, three initial forms of tonsure existed in the Catholic faith–shaving the entire head (Eastern Orthodox), shaving from the forehead back to ears (Celtic) and shaving the top of the head, leaving a ring, or crown of hair (Roman).ReasonWhen tonsure first started, typically freemen had long hair and slaves had shaved hair. Friars who shaved their heads did so to demonstrate that they were slaves to God. Sporting a shaved head also made them immediately recognizable to others as clergy.Present-Day PracticeIn 1972, the Catholic church stopped requiring tonsure, t
