Zucchetto

The zucchetto (/(t)suːˈkɛtoʊ, zuːˈ-/,[1] also UK: /tsʊˈ-/,[2] US: /zʊˈ-/,[3] Italian: [dzukˈketto]; meaning 'small gourd', from zucca 'pumpkin' or more generally 'gourd'; plural in English: zucchettos)[a][4] or solideo,[5] officially a pileolus,[6] is a small, hemispherical, form-fitting ecclesiastical skullcap worn by clerics of various Catholic Churches, the Syriac Orthodox Church, by senior clergy in Anglicanism, and in rare cases by senior clergy in Methodism.

Clerics adopted the style circa the Early Middle Ages or earlier, to keep their heads warm[citation needed] and to insulate the tonsure.

[10] It is almost identical to the Jewish kippah or yarmulke, but typically differs in construction, with the zucchetto made of separate joined sections and color-coordinated to clerical status.

The resemblance between the two types of headgear is often seen as being deliberate (a reference to the Jewish roots of Christianity), but the zucchetto is distinct from[11] and predates the skullcap style of kippah and yarmulke.

The Anglican "skullcap" differs from the zucchetto primarily in that it is made of six panels, bears a button at centre of the crown, and is of slightly larger dimensions.

[15][9] The zucchetto is worn throughout most of the Mass, is removed at the commencement of the Preface, and replaced at the conclusion of Communion, when the Blessed Sacrament is put away.

The practice, which was started in the modern era by Pope Pius XII, involves giving the zucchetto to the faithful, as a keepsake, if presented with a new one as a gift.