Cardinals Wear Red and Bishops Purple, but Here Is the Difference Between the Two

The Catholic Church is steeped in ritual and tradition, and that includes the clothes that they wear. As cardinals gather in preparation to vote on who the next pope should be, many want to learn more about their clothes and what they symbolize.

If you've been watching footage of the cardinals, you may have noticed that some men seem to be wearing red while others are wearing purple. Here's what we know about what distinguishes the two outfits, and why a person might be wearing one or the other.

Cardinals actually don't wear both purple and red. Cardinals wear red, and bishops wear purple. The difference between the two is a little complicated, but bishops are usually in charge of a particular diocese, and are often responsible for keeping order. Some bishops can also be cardinals, but for the most part, cardinals are archbishops, and they are cardinals because they have been elected to the College of Cardinals by the pope.

Cardinals have extra administrative functions both within the country where they operate and inside of the global Catholic Church. Of course, their most important function is their ability to vote in papal elections. Cardinals are given lifetime appointments, and are essentially the most prestigious group inside of the Catholic Church. If you are a cardinal, you wear red, regardless of what your other appointments might be.

According to Simply Catholic, cardinals may have started wearing red following a medieval custom in Lyons, France, where the canons of the cathedral wore red to distinguish themselves from other clergy. There are also some who suggest that cardinals wear the color red because they are willing to sacrifice their lives for their faith, and while that may be true, it seems like it's a meaning that came out of tradition instead of the other way around.

As for the purple the bishops wear, it's a color that's usually associated with royalty. In truth, though, the color bishops wear is closer to magenta. Again, religious tradition suggests that bishops have been wearing the color for centuries, and the origins of it are unknown. Some have linked the color to the purple robe that was given to Jesus as he was being crucified, but the bishops do not wear the color primarily to acknowledge Jesus's suffering.

As this explainer likely makes clear, the rules inside of the Catholic Church are often vexing. It's a religious organization that has existed for millennia, and its traditions are therefore incredibly important to its sustainability.

While we may not know the exact origins of the colors, you can know that cardinals are dressed in red, and bishops in purple. That doesn't mean that these two groups won't interact, of course, but the cardinals are the ones who ultimately vote on who the next pope will be, and it's likely that the next pope will be one of the cardinals, although it could be anyone.