Addressing Specific Members of the Clergy

• 1). Use "Father" when addressing priests. Latin Catholics should not address their priests by their first name. If the priest's given name is John Smith, he should be addressed as "Father Smith." When addressing him formally by writing, he should be addressed as "The Reverend Father John Smith." Eastern Catholics do not use the priest's surname. John Smith would be addressed as "Father John," or the more formal "Reverend Father John."
  
  
• 2). Address deacons in the Latin faith by adding "Deacon" in front of their surname. John Smith becomes "Deacon Smith," or the more formal "Reverend Deacon John Smith." Followers of Eastern Catholicism address their deacons as "Father" or "Father Deacon."
  
  
• 3). Address nuns or female monastics as "Sister." Jane Smith would be called "Sister Jane Smith" or simply "Sister." Eastern Catholic Monastics would be "Sister Jane" or more formally, "Nun Jane." The Mother Superior in the Latin Catholic faith is referred to as "Reverend Mother" or "Reverend Mother Jane Smith."
  
  
• 4). Use "Holy Father," "Your Holiness," or "Most Holy Father" if you happen to be face to face with the Pope.
  
  
• 5). Refer to bishops in the Latin faith as "Your Excellency" or by the less formal "Bishop Smith." Eastern Catholic bishops should be referred to as "Your Grace." Formally, bishops are called "The Most Reverend John Smith" in Latin Catholicism and "The Right Reverend John" in Eastern Catholicism.
  
  
• 6). Address cardinals as "Your Eminence" or in Great Britain as "Your Grace." The title "Cardinal" goes between the person's first name and surname when addressing him formally, as in "Your Eminence, John Cardinal Smith."