Why do some priests and religious dress in clerical garb or habits and others do not?
Those who wear habits or clerical garb today do so for various reasons. One of the primary reasons is that religious dress is an instantly recognized symbol of faith in God and commitment to Christianity. Some communities have opted to wear street clothes, saying that the most valid sign of Christian faith is lifestyle, rather than clothing. Those who make this choice say the original reason for the habit was to wear the dress of the common people; therefore street clothes are the common people’s clothes nowadays.
