Clerical Attire
The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States acknowledges that individual bishops have the authority to determine whether and to what extent permanent deacons in their diocese must wear clerical attire. The local bishop also has the authority to specify what constitutes “appropriate clerical attire” if and when it is to be worn.
In pastoral settings, deacons in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas wear a gray clerical shirt with a Roman collar when serving in a parish or archdiocesan ministry. Unless circumstances suggest otherwise, pastoral settings in which the deacon should wear clerical garb include, but are not limited to, official parish functions, archdiocesan functions or liturgies (e.g., the Chrism Mass), weekend Masses, catechetical and sacramental ministry, parish devotions, and works of mercy.