Up until 50 years ago, there were norms of behaviour for mourning for Catholics depending on the relation to the deceased. The person wore certain types of mourning clothing for certain lengths of time and participated less in social events. Nowadays these norms are no longer adhered to. However, some Catholics still feel that it is respectful to wear black or black and white clothing for the first few days or months after the death of a close relative. They also refrain from going to large public functions, balls or dinner parties. They do not dine out in restaurants or host parties or social functions in the home of the deceased during the mourning period.
