This was all very well: Columbanus's success indicates the appeal of his mission. But his activities, for the first time, brought the nature of Celtic monasticism firmly to the attention of the Church authorities -- to western bishops in general, and to the Bishop of Rome in particular. The Irish monks were not heretical. But they were plainly unorthodox. They did not look right, to begin with. They had the wrong tonsure. Rome, as was natural, had 'the tonsure of St Peter', that is, a shaven crown. Easterners had the tonsure of St Paul, totally shaven; and if they wished to take up an appointment in the West they had to wait until their rim grew before being invested. But the Celts looked like nothing on earth: they had their hair long at the back and, on the shaven front part, a half-circle of hair from one ear to the other, leaving a band across the forehead. Paul Johnson
About This Quote

The Celts did not shave their heads. The Celtic tonsure was the same as the tonsure of the Roman Catholic Church. Medieval Christian monks and nuns did not shave their heads like the Roman Catholics, but rather kept their hair long on the back and sides. The term tonsure came from Latin and Greek roots that mean circle or ring.

The term tonsure rankled the Irish monks who were not used to such a ranking system and it caused them to rebel against Rome in favor of the Celtic church order. This quote is evidence that Rome was not always so powerful and so present in every part of Europe without any arguments or arguments about power because we do not need to defend our faith and we can believe what we want because we believe in ourselves.

Source: A History Of Christianity

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