Cardinal Timothy Dolan lent pop star Rihanna the pope hat she was seen wearing at the Met Gala, one of several not-so-religious sights on Monday night that raised more than just eyebrows and tsk tsks, The Wrap reported.
Rihanna and many other celebrities drew widespread criticism on social media from Catholics who felt their outfits, based on the event's theme “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” went overboard and were "offensive" and "disrespectful."
However, not only did the archbishop of New York defend the Met Gala as being all about “truth, goodness and beauty," but Dolan helped complete Rihanna's bedazzled outfit with a miter worn by bishops and cardinals on formal liturgical occasions.
"She gave it back to me this morning," Dolan said during his weekly show on SiriusXM radio on Tuesday, per The Catholic Herald.
"I was teasing my auxiliaries, who were teasing me about Rihanna, and I said, ‘Hey, you guys should not complain, because she’s volunteered to do some Confirmation." (That apparently was an inside joke about a time-consuming function that often falls to auxillary bishiops.)
Dolan added that Rihanna "was very gracious."
The gala raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute and featured an extensive Vatican-curated exhibit of Catholic items.
Met Gala curator Andrew Bolton said celebrities were given a dress code prior to the event as "an implicit plea to dress somewhat more modestly," Fox News reported.
In response to the criticism about the celebrity fashion event itself, Dolan conceded "there were some aspects that looked like kind of a masquerade party, a Halloween party," but he added that he didn't see "see anything sacrilegious," ABC affiliate WISN-TV reported.
"You may have seen some things in poor taste, but I didn't detect anybody out to offend the Church," said Dolan who was at the event and could be seen glad-handing stars like George Clooney.
The Catholic Church isn’t usually associated with fashion, but Dolan noted at the pre-gala press conference that Catholic imagination also included beauty, The New York Post’s Page Six reported.
"That’s why we’re into things such as art, culture, music, literature and, yes, even fashion," he said.
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