TONSURE. - A sacred rite instituted by the Church, by which a baptized and confirmed believer, through the cutting of the hair and the imposition of the surplice, as well as with a proper formula, passes from layman to cleric.
Clerical tonsure, however, is not to be confused with monastic or religious tonsure, by which the candidate separates himself from the world in order to devote himself to the religious state (v.). The latter is also conferred on novices, and is not administered with the formula proper to clerical tonsure.
Tonsure is not an order, but a rite that precedes the sacred Orders, as is clearly evident from the Council of Trent (sess. XXIII, chap. 3 De Sacram. Ordinis and chap. 6 De Reformat.; sess. XIV, chap. 3 De ref.). As for the form of the tonsure, the Roman one had the shape of a crown, whereas the Celtic one had the shape of a half-crown, inasmuch as the Celts, both ecclesiastics and monks, shaved the entire front part of the head from one ear to the other, leaving a strip of hair on the forehead. This distinctive tonsure aroused lively controversies in the 7th century between the Celts and the missionaries sent from Rome for the evangelization of the Angles (cf. Fliche-Martin-Frutaz, V, pp. 319, 329, 505).
The tonsure, which at the beginning was conferred together with the first Order, became separated from it from the 7th century onward, at first only for children, then also for adults; and the practice of initiating adults into the clerical state by means of the tonsure was approved by the Church and reserved to the bishop (chap. 11, X de aetate 1, 14 Decr., Innocent III); from which text it appears that this practice was universally admitted from the 12th century onward and was retained, apart from what concerns age, also by the Council of Trent.
CURRENT LAW
The ordinary minister for conferring the t. is the proper bishop (can. 955) in accordance with can. 956. Under the old law the extraordinary ministers were only cardinal priests in their own titular churches; under the current law they are all cardinals (can. 239 § 1, no. 2), and not only for the clerics of their titular churches but for all, provided, of course, that they are furnished with dimissorial letters from the candidate's own Ordinary. The regular abbots with governance are also extraordinary ministers of the t., even without territory, provided that they are priests, have received the abbatial blessing, and that the candidates are their subjects by virtue of at least simple profession (can. 625), under pain of nullity, unless the abbot has been invested with the episcopal character (can. 957 § 2).
As for the requirements on the part of the candidate, can. 973 CIC establishes: the t. and the minor orders are conferred only on those who intend to become priests and are foreseen to be worthy (cf. the instruction of the S. C. of the Sacraments of 27 Dec. 1930: AAS, 23 [1931], p. 120 ff., concerning the petition of the candidate to be presented to the rector of the seminary two months before the Ordination). These requirements, in addition to those demanded ad soliditatem (can. 968 § 1), must be found together with others expressly indicated (can. 974), for the liceity of every ordination. As for the age of the tonsurand, the discipline immediately preceding the CIC established the full seventh year (C. 41, 9 in 60; Council of Trent, sess. XXIII, C. 4 De reform., Pontificale Romanum: De ordinibus conferendi). In some places, however, by particular law, the age of 14 was required. Under the current law no age is directly established; it is laid down, however, that the t. cannot be conferred before the beginning of the theological course, whether the cleric be secular or religious (can. 976 § 1). Through the t., which expresses the renunciation of the world and consecration to God, the layman becomes a cleric (can. 108 § 1) and is automatically incardinated in that diocese for whose service he was tonsured (can. 111 § 2); he is made capable of jurisdiction and of receiving benefices (cans. 108 § 1, 119 § 3); he acquires the rights and privileges proper to clerics (cans. 119-23); he may serve as subdeacon, though without maniple, in a solemn Mass; he is bound to special duties (cans. 124-25 etc.) and to wear the t., save for particular customs; and to avoid all affectation in the hair (can. 136). If minor clerics abandon the habit and the t. and, after being admonished, do not amend, after a month they fall from the clerical state, save for the provisions of can. 2379 and of can. 188, 7.
The first t. may be conferred on any day and at any hour (can. 1006 § 4) and also in private oratories (can. 1009 § 3). The rite of the t., as described in the Gregorian Sacramentary, which reflects the discipline of the 8th century, consists of the cutting of the hair and the invitation to the faithful to invoke from the Lord grace for the new cleric. The present rite is described by the Pontificale Romanum under the title De ordinibus conferendis et de clerico faciendo.
The essential rite comprises the cutting of the ends of the hair in five parts of the head: that is, on the forehead, on the occiput, on the two ears, and in the middle of the head, accompanied by the words "Dominus pars hereditatis meae et calicis mei tu es qui restitues hereditatem meam mihi". If, however, instead of real hair, that of a coma adscittitia is cut, the conferral of the t. is doubtful and, therefore, a sanatio must be sought or it must be repeated conditionally. Certainly the imposition of the cotta with the formula "Induat te Dominus" etc. does not belong to the essence of the rite. The t. is a sacramental.