All I could say was that the robes were ceremonial but that on the street, they wear ordinary black suits, much as the Pope in the film, "Shoes of the Fisherman,’’ did. JP II went about in plain white robes.

But the innocent reply was that Jesus Christ Himself went about in a plain white robe, so why should His representatives be regally clothed?

I had the bright idea of consulting Encarta but found nothing on cardinal’s costumes. Perhaps, the answer would lie somewhere in the Catholic encyclopedia. However, in lieu of research, I found refuge in guesswork, as I did not want to reveal my ignorance.

I guess that the pomp and ceremony of the cardinalate began with Constantine the Great’s conversion to Christianity in the 4th century. Christianity’s conquest of the Roman Empire, finally making it Holy, set the stage for the earthly magnificence of the princes of the church.

It did not seem right for the princes of a triumphant religion incorporated to a great empire to go about in humble garb. The elite of the elites, in embracing Christianity, wanted to bestow their magnificence on their new faith. As someone once said, "mass follows class.’’

So it was with the Eastern Orthodox churches, whose prelates recall the stately robes of Byzantium. It’s the Protestant pastors – Lutherans, Methodists, and Baptists, etc. – who have worn ordinary clothes until in modern times, Catholic priests followed suit, to the dismay of my generation – and generations before – who wish that priests (as we knew them) would dress like priests.

It’s not accurate, then, to say that the church is evolving, although it seems to be changing, catching up, as it were, to the modern world.

But should the princes of the church shed off the robes and jewelry of the cardinalate?