Mozzetta

The mozzetta ([motˈtsetta], plural mozzette; derived from almuce) is a short elbow-length sartorial vestment, a cape that covers the shoulders and is buttoned over the frontal breast area.

It is worn over the rochet or cotta as part of choir dress by some of the clergy of the Catholic Church, among them the pope, cardinals, bishops, abbots, canons and religious superiors.

The color of the mozzetta, which is only worn over a cassock and sometimes other choral vestments, represents the hierarchical rank of the person wearing it.

The pope also wears his mozzetta anywhere in the world, usually with a heavily embroidered red stole over it, as a sign of his universal sovereignty.

[citation needed] On the evening of his election in 2013, Pope Francis did not wear the mozzetta, appearing on the balcony of St Peter's in a white papal soutane, surmounted by the pellegrina.