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In English, it is mostly 'father' before the priest's real or adopted name. Does that mean the Italians call them padre as in "padre Domenico" for Father Domenico?

Charo
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3 Answers3

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I suspect this varies regionally. Where I am from (the area around Venice) people usually used the appellation don (pronounced ['don] in standard Italian and ['doŋ] in the local accent), as in don Carlo, which is the usual title for parish priests. Padre would be understood, but it feels rather formal.

As a small piece of evidence, I put forward this youtube video, whose title is Chiedilo al don, i.e. "Ask the don". I had no previous knowledge of it, so look at it at your own peril :).

However don has a quite different connotation in the South of Italy (as far as I can tell it is used for all kinds of local notables), and I suspect this influences the usage although, never having lived there, I cannot be sure.

Denis Nardin
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    In Rome, while I know of priests called “Don [Name]”, I never heard “don” used alone, not followed by a first name. Apparently, it's to be used – before a name – for priests secolari, that is, not belonging to an order. – DaG Jul 17 '20 at 12:37
  • @DaG Yes, I was referring explicitly to parish priests, although I've heard it used with friars, perhaps inappropriately (I've never had to interact with monks, so I am not quite sure what people would do in that case) – Denis Nardin Jul 17 '20 at 12:59
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My experience (in Rome, if that makes any difference) is a universal use of padre, both in itself (“Buongiorno, padre”) and with a given name (“Ho incontrato padre Leonardo”), but it seems that formally it would depend on the specific order the priest belongs to. According to Treccani dictionary, padre is a

Titolo reverenziale che si premette al nome di monaci e frati che siano sacerdoti: p. Cristoforo; [...] anche come vocativo: reverendo p.; mi ascolti, p.; vorrei confessarmi, padre.

That is, it should be strictly used for priests who are monks or friars.

DaG
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Maybe this adds to Denis's excellent answer: I came here looking for why the name of a Sicilian priest I am researching is always preceded by "Don". John Bosco (not the one I'm researching), for example, is often called Don Bosco. He worked in Turin so the title is not strictly a southern Italian usage. The priest I am researching was both a nobleman and a priest.

Don comes from Dominus (Lord) and my impression is that Denis is correct in thinking it can be applied to others besides priests and this is probably more true in Sicily than elsewhere. Wikipedia has a brief entry on this as an honorific in many countries, sometimes slightly changed. The Catholic Encyclopedia is more specific and relates the title to Italy. Keep in mind that the Catholic Encyclopedia is from 1917. It seems like it still applies, however.

NewAdvent [Catholic Encyclopedia]: All priests in Italy have the title "Don", an abbreviation of Dominus (Lord), and should therefore be addressed as "Reverendo Don" (or "D."); or, in the case of a doctor, "Reverendo [or Rev.] Dott., Don N. . . ." Various formulas of respect still occasionally used by Italian politeness may be noted, such as: "All' Ill' mo e Rev'mo Padrone [Pdne] Coltissimo [Colmo] ed Osservantissimo [Ossmo] Signor", titles without equivalent in French or English, now very rarely given, even in Rome, and which belong rather to the archæology of ecclesiastical civility.

Laura
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