Pope John Paul II and the Stole

Ben Stadelmaier poses in front of his firm's creations, the Nijmeegs model, with outside stole. Ben Stadelmaier poses in front of his firm's creations, the Nijmeegs model, with outside stole.

The wearing of the stole on the outside of a chasuble or cope by Catholic clergy is relatively recent and is accredited to the Dutch Atelier Stadelmaier company, based in Nijmegen: In the 1960's the atelier devised a new style of liturgical outfit known as the Nijmegen model (Nijmeegs model), which included an embroidered stole that was worn on the outside, over the chasuble or cope.

This stole became known as the ‘outside stole’ (buitenstola) and because it was clearly visible the quantity of decoration, including embroidery, dramatically increased. The ‘outside’ stola was officially recognised after Pope John Paul II issued a decree of nihil obstat ('no objections') in 1985 and wore the stole when he visited the Netherlands. This way of wearing the stole is now widely used throughout the Catholic Church.

An embroidered ‘outside’ stole was designed by W. Persey and made by the Atelier Stadelmaier for John Paul II for his visit to the Basilica of Sint Servaas, in Maastricht, The Netherlands, on 14th May 1985. The stole was embroidered with an image of St. Servaas, the first bishop of Maastricht. The stole is now in the collection of the Vatican.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 9th July 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 24 May 2017 16:22
Published in Religious vestments and other textiles
More in this category: « Cope of St. Boniface, Utrecht Tunicle »
back to top