Question:
Answer:
You refer to disciplinary guidelines that St. Paul conveys in 1 Corinthians 11, and specifically regarding men praying without covered head in 11:4, 7. Because they are disciplines, they are changeable, as opposed to unchangeable doctrines.
Jesus Christ gave his Church power to prudentially bind and loose regarding changeable disciplines (Matt. 18:18-19; 18:15-18), and so the Church no longer requires women to wear veils or head coverings at Mass, although they are certainly welcome to do so.
In addition, while St. Paul directs men not to have long hair (1 Cor. 11:14)—apparently related to disorders in Corinth, including sexual ones—it was not something God set in stone as a doctrine. Indeed, in Numbers 6:1-21, we read about the Nazarite vow some men took, in which they wouldn’t cut their hair for a period of time. Samson took such a vow—and a lifelong one at that (Judges 13:5). The vow also included abstaining from wine or strong drink (Judges 13:4), which indicates that St. John the Baptist took a similar Nazarite vow (Luke 1:13-15).
Similarly, it’s a changeable discipline re: the covering of a man’s head for prayer, and a practical matter if praying outside in the cold. And St. Paul makes clear he’s speaking about practice or custom in 1 Corinthians 11:16, which are changeable, not an unchangeable doctrinal matter.
And yet the Pope and other bishops actually maintain this time-honored discipline during the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass, when the Pope (and other bishops) remove both his miter (liturgical headdress) and zucchetto, which is a small skull cap that is similar to the yarmulkes that Orthodox Jewish men wear when praying in synagogues. (The zucchetto is white for the Pope, red for cardinals, purple for bishops, and black for abbots.)