The question of "foam miters" came up in the context of papal visits/souvenirs a couple of months ago. What caught my attention was this description of "official merchandise" selection in a 1995 article, which called out foam rubber miters specifically:
...Committees at both archdioceses had to approve each papal product. "People were trying to get us interested in papal coffee mugs and foam rubber miters," said the Rev. Leslie Ivers, director of the New York Archdiocese's office for the papal visit. "These are things that we don't think are in good taste.""Why would(n't) a Catholic want to own a foam miter?" The archdiocese responds by saying "we don't think they're in good taste". And a t-shirt is? Why not a miter? What about a miter with the Pope's picture on it? And what's wrong with calling it a "Pope hat" anyway? Some Catholics use slang to refer to the Pope as "papa" - why not slang to refer to his traditional headgear?
I think it's safe to assume that the availability of foam miters at any papal appearance is purely "unofficial" at best. I think it's also safe to assume that vendors anticipate a demand for them, since in 1995 they tried to get the archdiocese's blessing (pun intended) to sell them. Would an archdiocese sue competing vendors for selling "unauthorized" souvenirs from the Pope's visit?
I get the impression that the more traditionalist Catholics among you would consider buying or wearing a foam miter to be a disrespectful act. It certainly diverts revenue away from archdiocesan efforts to pay for the Pope's visit via "official" souvenirs. Would you consider that disrespectful as well?
2. Couldn’t find anything on that picture of Asians in YMCA t-shirts and foam miters.
Having read that vendors in fact sold them at the 1993 appearance, and wanting to sell them in 1995, I went looking for pictures. I found the picture in question on the blog of Saint Mary Magdalen Catholic parish, Brighton, UK. The same entry carried another picture:
3. Everything you think you know about Catholicism is wrong.
I know that a foam miter on a parishioner is less tacky than a rainbow umbrella hat on a priest.