Word via The Deacons Bench that Pope Francis has ended the practice of honoring certain priests of the Latin Church with the title of Monsignor. The move does not appear to be retroactive so those already granted the honor retain it, for now. Henceforth the only title that will be granted to clergy will be "Chaplain to His Holiness" and that only on deserving priests over the age of 65.
Correction: The title may still be granted to those over 65 but unlike in previous years there will no longer be different grades within the title. "Chaplain to His Holiness" was formerly the highest grade and will now be the only one. I have adjusted the blog post title to clarify this.
One news story I read said before Paul VI there were 14 ranks of monsignori; after, there were 3. Practically I think there have been two, young priests on the fast track to bishop and beyond, and older priests who get a consolation prize for not becoming bishops. Of course I get it about clerical ambition being a temptation but again Francis strikes me as another Paul VI, this change being a kind of Protestantizing humblebragging. Anyway, apostolic prot(h)onotaries, the highest monsignori, could wear mitres; the ordinaries for ex-Anglicans seem to be that rank or its equivalent (the church was being nice as they are ex-Anglican bishops). And in some non-English-speaking countries bishops are Monsignor. For decades after breaking with Rome, ACROD gave its protopresbyters/archpriests the title, as it was long part of their culture; they probably saw it more as "naš" ("ours") than Catholic.
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