Ahead of conclave, this Italian tailor is making 3 different sizes of cassocks

CBC

05-05-2025

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After a fat pope comes a skinny pope — Dopo un papa grasso, viene un papa magro, the old Vatican saying goes.
Raniero Mancinelli is taking no chances.
In a cramped backroom atelier just steps from St. Peter's Basilica, the 86-year-old ecclesiastical tailor is sewing not one but three white papal cassocks — small, medium and large — hedging his bets on who might step onto the balcony when the white smoke rises.
The Vatican expression is less about waistlines and more about political pendulum swings. After the death of a pope, the conclave of cardinal-electors often veers in the opposite direction, choosing a pontiff with a contrasting style or set of priorities.
But whether they opt for a conservative in a wool-silk blend or a progressive in pared-down wool, Mancinelli wants to make sure the cloth still fits.
His greatest wish, he says, is to see a freshly elected pope wearing one of his cassocks on the balcony for that seminal moment — something that's never happened. He's one of a handful of tailors who donate these first papal robes, making it something of a quiet competition.
The conclave that will elect a successor to Pope Francis – and ultimately a new leader of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church – begins Wednesday.
Gammarelli, another family-run ecclesiastical tailor favoured by the Vatican, has confirmed it didn't receive a pre-conclave order for a new set of virgin cassocks — those first white robes prepared for a newly elected pope — marking the first time in 46½ years.
Italian media suggests the Vatican has enough unworn cassocks on hand, and is honouring Pope Francis's message of environmental and economic sustainability.
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With the Vatican now in sede vacante after the death of Pope Francis, CBC's Jonathan Montpetit looks ahead to the conclave and who might be in line to become the next pontiff. NOTE: Since this video was published, two cardinals have withdrawn from the Holy See for health reasons.
Aside from those first robes, Mancinelli has spent decades dressing popes from head to heel. Papal fashion, he says, has shifted from opulence to restraint — especially under Francis, who favoured modest, low-cost garments.
"Francis wanted a very lightweight, robust wool," said Mancinelli. "Something practical. Benedict, on the other hand, liked a wool-silk blend, more formal and high-end."
John Paul II, he adds, wore a robe of heavier wool, "not because he suffered the cold, but because he was chubbier and needed a more resilient fabric."
The cassock, or talare in Italian, gets its name from the fact that it is meant to brush the taloni — the heels. That hasn't changed. But pure silk, he says, has mostly fallen out of favour.
"Silk was extremely difficult to work with," said Mancinelli. "It also rips easily and doesn't last long."
Like a good pope, he says, wool is more forgiving.
Each cassock takes five or six days to complete. A defining detail: the 33 buttons that run down the front, one for each year of Christ's life.
"Sometimes we cut the number back a bit to speed things up or for practical reasons," he admitted, like the pope's height.
Mancinelli began crafting clerical garments at age 15. Since the 1960s, he's run his busy shop that attracts priests, bishops and cardinals shopping for cassocks, mitres (the stiff ceremonial hat worn by cardinals, archbishops and popes), mozzettas (those little dome-shaped shoulder capes), and fascias (the sash worn around the waist).
His daughter, Laura, works the front of the shop while his grandson Lorenzo, 23, sits by him at the sewing machine, training to take over one day.
"The collar, the hem, the finishing details," said Lorenzo, listing off the most time-consuming tasks.
Mancinelli started working on the cassocks for the next pope even before Francis died — to be able to take Lorenzo through every step.
The robes are scheduled to be complete by May 5. Then, Mancinelli will deliver them in person to the Vatican.