Cassocks Competition: Whose Outfit Will New Pope Wear?
For decades, one Rome tailor has been making the white cassock new popes don immediately after election -- but this conclave it has competition.
The Gammarelli tailors traditionally prepares three outfits -- short, medium and tall -- to fit new pontiffs whatever their size but say this time the Vatican has asked them not to.
With just hours to go before cardinals are locked into the Sistine Chapel to elect Pope Francis's successor, rival tailor Raniero Mancinelli is taking the chance to offer his own set.
"I have to deliver them today or tomorrow... They have to be ready before the conclave so they can be used if needed," 86-year-old Mancinelli told AFP on Monday.
Mancinelli has made clothes for several popes in the past but has never had the honour of making the first outfit, worn when the pope addresses the public from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica.
He is hand-making the lightweight wool cassocks, sashes and white zucchettos -- or skullcaps -- to be delivered to the Vatican ahead of the conclave, which starts on Wednesday.
Mancinelli is also making three sizes to fit all sorts of pope.
But his are "small, medium or large", to fit different girths rather than heights, as the length will not be visible when the pontiff first appears.
Lorenzo Gammarelli told AFP last week his family-run tailors had been readying to make the three virgin cassocks, as per tradition, but was "told by the Vatican that they have taken care of it".
He said he assumed the vestments for the new pope would "be those of the previous conclaves, because each time we made three robes and they used only one".
But Mancinelli, who has been a tailor for 70 years in his historic shop on the Borgo Pio, a stone's throw from the Vatican, hopes otherwise.
Although the Vatican has not requested he make the cassocks, he has the necessary skills, having worked under seven popes.
"I am making them and offering them to the Vatican in case they can be used by the new pope," he said.
"If they use my things I will be very happy," he added.
The ecclesiastical tailor, who dresses Roman Catholic bishops, priests and seminarians as well as popes, is rushed off his feet with last minute requests ahead of the conclave.
"There are cardinals that need a sash, a zucchetto, a collar... I take care of it," Mancinelli said.
Originally from the Marche region in central Italy, he fell into the profession by chance after being offered the job one day of making cassocks for the Vatican.
The workshop is lined with photographs of Mancinelli and popes. He personally made cassocks for the last three, including Francis.
Clerics from all over the world drop in on him during their visits to Rome.
Some have become friends. Others have climbed the ranks of the Catholic hierarchy.
Francis's election was a surprise -- an outsider from Latin America who had not appeared in the lists of frontrunners ahead of his election in 2013.
Mancinelli said the Argentine had not been one of his regulars, although he may have popped into the shop at some point.
"With so many priests, bishops and cardinals coming and going, it's hard to remember them all," he said. Mancinelli has worked as a tailor for 70 years AFP Gammarelli tailors have for generations made the white cassock new popes don immediately after their election AFP Ecclesiastical tailors are rushed off their feet with last minute requests ahead of the conclave AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
42 minutes ago
- Int'l Business Times
Manhunt Intensifies In US After Lawmaker Killed, Another Wounded
Police and FBI agents waged a huge manhunt Sunday for a gunman who killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota in what officials called a politically motivated attack. As the search stretched into its second day, police appeared to close in on the shooter, finding a car described as related to him, but not the man himself. America reeled from its latest spasm of political violence as lawmakers called for a return to civility in political discourse that has been overheated and angry for years. Authorities searched for a man identified as Vance Boelter, 57, who also allegedly shot and wounded another lawmaker and his wife early Saturday in the northern state bordering Canada. Officials said Boelter impersonated a police officer as he came to the homes of these couples near Minneapolis and shot them, and that officers found a manifesto and a list of other lawmakers and potential targets in his car. Boelter fled on foot after exchanging gunfire with officers after the second shooting. On Sunday officers located another car related to Boelter in a rural area about a 90-minute drive west of Minneapolis, the Sibley County Sheriff's Office told AFP. Residents were warned of the find and agents are scouring the area, the office said without explaining how the vehicle is related to the suspect. Officials have issued security alerts in South Dakota and other states as the hunt proceeds, US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday as she mourned her slain friend, Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman. "I am concerned about all our political leaders, political organizations," she said. "It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I've heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations." As speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to January 2025, Hortman was committed to legislation that protected reproductive rights in the state, local media reported. America is bitterly divided politically as President Donald Trump embarks on his second term and routinely insults his opponents. Political violence is becoming more and more common. Trump himself survived an assassination attempt last year. An assailant with a hammer attacked the husband of then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022. And Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home was set on fire this year. "We need to bring the tone down," Klobuchar said on CNN. US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, himself attacked by a neighbor in 2017, told NBC "nothing brings us together more than, you know, mourning for somebody else who's in political life, Republican or Democrats." On Saturday the FBI released a photo that appears to show Boelter wearing a mask as he stands outside the home of one of the lawmakers. It is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The shootings came on the day a dramatic split screen showed America divided: hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country took to the streets to rally against Trump as the president presided over a big military parade in Washington -- a rare spectacle criticized as seeking to glorify him. Trump has condemned the killing of Hortman and her husband Mark and the wounding of state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. In a conversation Sunday with ABC News, Trump was asked if he planned to call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris's running mate in the election Trump won last year. "Well, it's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he's a grossly incompetent person," the president said. "But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too." A vehicle belonging to Vance Boelter, a primary suspect in the murder of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, is towed from the alley behind his home AFP
Int'l Business Times
3 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
India A Voice For Global South At G7, Says Foreign Minister
India, whose leader has been invited to the G7 starting on Sunday, is eager to represent the Global South on the world stage, acting as a "bridge" between different countries, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said. India is not a member of the G7 -- which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- but the world's most populous nation and one of its biggest economies has been invited to summits since 2019. "We have been an outreach country in the G7 for many years, and I think it brings benefits to the G7," he told AFP in Paris. "There are very strong feelings in the Global South about the inequities of the international order, the desire to change it, and we are very much part of that," he added. "It is important for us to organise ourselves and make our presence felt." The leaders of the G7 kick off a yearly summit in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday. They have invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the leaders of Ukraine, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea, to attend at a time of global turmoil and a radical new US approach to world affairs. The member nations are also expected to deliberate on troubled relations with China and Russia. India is a leading member of BRICS -- a bloc of leading emerging economies that includes Russia and China, whose leaders are set to meet in early July. BRICS has growing economic clout and is increasingly seen as a G7 rival. Jaishankar said India had "the ability to work with different countries in a way without making any relationship exclusive". "To the extent that that serves as a bridge, it's frankly a help that we do to international diplomacy at a time when, mostly what you see are difficult relationships and excessive tensions," he added. The foreign minister said his country had been in favour of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict since 2022. But Jaishankar -- whose nation is a political ally of Russia and trades with Moscow -- said sanctions such as those against President Vladimir Putin's government did not work. "Where sanctions are concerned, you could argue that it has not actually had much impact on policy behaviour," he said. Europeans are in favour of a plan for a "secondary" sanctions plan, including a 500-percent tariff on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and raw materials. "The world does not need more tension, more conflict, more hostility, more stresses," the former Indian ambassador in Washington said. US President Donald Trump is expected at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. Modi is expected to meet him to push a trade deal with the United States -- India's largest trading partner -- before the July 9 deadline when Washington's punishing 26 percent tariffs are set to resume. Jaishankar said Trump "clearly, in many ways, represents a discontinuity". "He is definitely a very nationalistic person who puts his country's interests very strongly ahead," he added. As for China, it was a balancing act, said the minister. India and China, the world's two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia, and their 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension. Their troops clashed in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, and forces from both sides today face off across contested high-altitude borderlands. Despite both country's differences, "we are also today the major rising powers in the world", Jaishankar said. "Where we (India) have to be strong and firm, we will be strong and firm. Where we have to forge a stable relationship, we are prepared to do that," he added. China has also been a staunch partner of India's arch-enemy Pakistan. Pakistan used Chinese jets against India when the nuclear-armed foes fought an intense four-day conflict last month in which 70 people were killed, their worst standoff since 1999. The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing -- a charge Islamabad denies. The territory is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, which have fought several wars over Kashmir since their 1947 independence from British rule. But Jaishankar dismissed fears at the time of a nuclear escalation. These were "only the concerns of people who were completely uninformed," he said.
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
Milei urges Argentines to bank 'mattress dollars' – DW – 06/15/2025
Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei has his sights set on an estimated $271 billion in cash stashed away by his fellow citizens to survive economic hardships. Thanks to sweeping spending cuts, Argentine President Javier Milei has managed to bring inflation in his country down from a monthly 25% in December 2023 to below 3% now, according to official data published by the country's INDEC statistics agency. And yet, the cost of living in Argentina is still rising, forcing the libertarian leader to make another controversial proposal to the public. He's called on his fellow citizens to spend their cash dollars squirreled away in mattresses and foreign bank accounts, long held by Argentines as a hedge against decades of economic turmoil. Last week (June 5), Milei's government sent a bill called Fiscal Presumption of Innocence to Congress, declaring that the law ensures that there will be no more persecution of those Argentines holding undeclared dollars. The measure widens a tax amnesty scheme rolled out last year which already lured tens of billions of dollars back into circulation. Milei's sweeping austerity measures have reined in inflation, but left many Argentines facing economic hardships Image: DW During Milei's 2023 presidential election campaign, his supporters marched through the streets of Buenos Aires waving oversized dollar bills featuring their candidate's face. Milei himself called the Argentine peso "worth as much as shit," initially pledging to replace it with the US dollar as legal tender once he's elected. Today, Milei's dollarization drive is back on the agenda, but in a different form. This time, it's not about switching the national currency, but about integrating the US dollars Argentines have been stockpiling at home into the formal economy. Dollars 'under the mattress' The INDEC agency has estimated that Argentinians have about $271 billion (€234 billion) hidden away, money that is colloquially referred to as "dolares del colchon," or mattress dollars. The exact amount is unknown, because the money is essentially undeclared. People began stockpiling these dollars during Argentina's prolonged periods of hyperinflation, which gripped the country until the end of 2023. Having access to US dollars in cash — or being able to receive and withdraw dollar funds — allowed people to sidestep skyrocketing peso prices by taking advantage of favorable exchange rates. In Argentina, dollar cash reserves became a kind of financial life insurance. Eugenio Mari, chief economist at the Buenos Aires-based libertarian think tank Fundacion Libertad y Progreso, finds this behavior perfectly rational. Speaking to DW, he said that for decades Argentines have tried to "protect themselves from inflation and from government overreach," meaning many used part of their income to buy dollars and kept them out of circulation. But saving in dollars also meant making consumption sacrifices and spending less overall. Cash dollars for economic recovery Now, President Milei wants to change that engrained behavior by convincing Argentines to bring the hidden dollars back into the monetary system for the benefit of the broader economy. The government argues that inflation has been tamed — at least for the time being — creating the right moment to release the hoarded cash. It's yet unclear how many Argentines are considering bringing their dollars back in circulation Image: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo/picture alliance But trust in a currency can be destroyed quickly, while rebuilding it takes much longer. So it's still unclear whether Argentines are willing to monetize their "mattress dollars" in sizeable amounts. In his effort, Milei is counting on deregulation and the removal of tax burdens to encourage them. Some even say the president is banking his political future on the scheme, which may come to be seen as a test of people's trust in his economic policy. So far, the plan is progressing slowly, daily newspaper Clarin wrote last week. 'Fiscal innocence' bill Technically, Argentinians are required to report any foreign currency holdings. But the law has never been fully enforced. Milei's bill guaranteeing fiscal innocence to offenders was a clever move, says economist Mari. "The removal of reporting requirements to the tax authority makes transactions easier and reduces the risk of citizens being pursued by the state, especially by tax authorities," said Mari. Since Javier Milei took office in December 2023, many economic indicators have improved. Inflation has dropped significantly, poverty is declining, the government has posted budget surpluses, and the economy is growing. Argentina sees protests swell ahead of major strike To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video According to recent World Bank forecasts, Argentina's economy is expected to grow by 5.5% this year, with another 4.5% projected for next year. However, prices for food and essential goods have soared, due largely to the rollback of state subsidies and the strengthening of the Argentine peso. Dollarization through the backdoor? Thousands of Argentines, meanwhile, are crossing borders into Chile, Paraguay, or Brazil to shop more cheaply, as the stronger peso is giving them a more favorable exchange rate. Hernan Letcher, director of the Centro de Economia Politica Argentina (CEPA) in Buenos Aires, believes Milei's aim with his dollar monetization plan is to "inject more dollars into the government's currency exchange system," which for him is "essentially a foreign exchange policy measure." As Argentines go shopping abroad, the country's central bank has reported growing capital outflows amid a stronger peso Image: Carol Smiljan/NurPhoto/picture alliance Nau Bernues, a financial expert and the CEO of Quaestus Asteriscos — a firm specializing in the financial system and investments — believes the government wants to "go even further." The plan is to make the dollar a "more transactional currency" that would allow people to "buy not only an apartment or a car, but also an appliance or even a cookie at a kiosk." "It's doing everything possible to ensure that there are more and more dollars. If that happens with constant pesos or no issuance, the exchange rate should appreciate," Bernues told the news agency Noticias Argentinas last week. He noted that Milei's economic team was "constantly proclaiming" that the dollar could fall from currently about 1,180 pesos per greenback to 1,000 pesos. But he personally is skeptical about Milei's "ambitious" plan, arguing that the dollars under the mattress are people's "insurance, perhaps their life savings," which they won't touch for anything, "except if they make it much easier to purchase land, real estate and assets that the average Argentine assigns a certain amount of protection." This article was originally written in German.
