Editing Tonsure (section)

===Contemporary practice===
====Eastern Christianity====<!-- This section is linked from [[Prayer rope]] -->
[[File:TonsureOfOthodoxReader.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|Clerical tonsure (note the scissors in the bishop's hands) of an Orthodox man in conjunction with ordination to [[minor orders]].]]

Today in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] and in the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] of [[Byzantine Rite]], there are three types of tonsure:  [[baptism]]al, [[monk|monastic]], and [[ordination|clerical]].  It always consists of the cutting of four locks of hair in a cruciform pattern: at the front of head as the celebrant says "In the Name of the Father", at the back of head at the words "and the Son", and on either side of the head at the words "and the Holy Spirit".  In all cases, the hair is allowed to grow back; the tonsure as such is not adopted as a hairstyle.

=====Baptismal tonsure=====
Baptismal tonsure is performed during the rite of Holy Baptism as a first sacrificial offering by the newly baptised. This tonsure is always performed, whether the one being baptised is an infant or an adult.

=====Monastic tonsure=====
Monastic tonsure (of which there are three grades: [[Rassophore#Eastern Orthodox monks|Rassophore]], [[Stavrophore]] and the [[Great Schema]]), is the rite of initiation into the monastic state, symbolic of cutting off of self-will. Orthodox monks traditionally never cut their hair or beards after receiving the monastic tonsure as a sign of the consecration of their lives to God (reminiscent of the Vow of the [[Nazirite]]).

=====Clerical tonsure=====
Clerical tonsure is the equivalent of the "first tonsure" in the Latin church.  It is done immediately prior to ordination to the minor order of [[reader (liturgy)|reader]] but is not repeated at subsequent ordinations.<ref>In the [[Latin liturgical rites|West]], the [[minor orders]] were those of [[Ostiarius|porter]], [[reader (liturgy)|lector]], [[exorcist]] and [[acolyte]], and the major orders were [[subdeacon|subdiaconate]], [[deacon|diaconate]] and [[priest]]hood, with the rank of [[bishop]] usually being considered a fuller form of priesthood. In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|East]], the minor orders are those of reader and [[subdeacon]], (and, in some places, acolyte); the orders of doorkeeper (porter) and exorcist (catechist) now having fallen into disuse.</ref> This led to a once common usage that one was, for instance, "tonsured a reader", although technically the tonsure occurs prior to the prayer of ordination within the ordination rite.

====Western Christianity====

=====Clerical tonsure=====
Since the issuing of ''Ministeria quaedam'' in 1972,<ref name=Motu_Poprio/> certain institutes have been authorized to use the first clerical tonsure, such as the [[Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter]] (1988), the [[Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest]] (1990), and the [[Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney]] (2001).

Although the tonsure itself is obsolete, the wearing of a skull cap, called a [[zucchetto]], in church to keep the head warm, which the fuller form of clerical tonsure led to, still survives.  The zucchetto is worn by the [[pope]] (in white), [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] (in red) and [[bishop]]s (in purple) both during and outside of formal religious ceremonies. Priests may wear a simple black zucchetto, only outside of religious services, though this is almost never seen except on abbots, who continue to wear the black zucchetto, or abbots of the Order of Canons Regular of Premontre, who wear white. Another congregation of Canons Regular, the Canons Regular of the Lateran, wear a white zucchetto as part of their proper habit. Some priests who held special titles (certain ranks of [[monsignori]] and some canons, for instance) formerly wore black zucchettos with red or purple piping, but this too has fallen out of use except in a few, extremely rare cases.

=====Monastic tonsure=====
Some monastic orders and individual monasteries{{which|date=April 2020}} still maintain the tradition of a monastic tonsure. While not required, it is still a common practice of Latin Church friars, such as the [[Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word]].{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}<!-- that article has a picture where none of the monks appear to be tonsured--> Some references compare the tonsure to the [[Crown of Thorns]] worn by [[Jesus|Christ]] at the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Jennifer |title=Early Medieval Text and Image Volume 2: The Codex Amiatinus, the Book of Kells and Anglo-Saxon Art |date=19 June 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-00872-2 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ch-eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherrow |first1=Victoria |title=Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33145-9 |page=272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&dq=tonsure+christs+thorns&pg=PA272 |language=en}}</ref>