Until the election of Pope John Paul I to the western Catholic papacy, for 800 years the election of a new pope was followed by a coronation ceremony in which a three-tier crown (shown in the coat of arms of the Holy See above) was placed on his head. You can read more about the bizarre device here:
Papal tiara
I get the idea of pomp and circumstance and the desire to imbue rare, significant occasions with fanciness, but I can't be the only one to find the triple-crown papal tiara hideous. At some point the bells and whistles of tradition can repel more than attract the presence of mind to the event at hand, and I think it was a good move on Jon Paul I's part to simplify the post-election ceremony. Still, the "tiara" is an interesting oddity in the mountain of interesting oddities present in the history of the Catholic Church.
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