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

Megan Williams · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 2:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 42 minutes ago

After a abdominous pope comes a skinny pope — Dopo un papa grasso, viene un papa magro, the aged Vatican saying goes.

Raniero Mancinelli is taking nary chances.

In a cramped backroom atelier conscionable steps from St. Peter's Basilica, the 86-year-old ecclesiastical tailor is sewing not 1 but 3 achromatic papal cassocks — small, medium and ample — hedging his bets connected who mightiness measurement onto the balcony erstwhile the achromatic fume rises.

The Vatican look is little astir waistlines and much astir governmental pendulum swings. After the decease of a pope, the conclave of cardinal-electors often veers successful the other direction, choosing a pontiff with a contrasting benignant oregon acceptable of priorities.

But whether they opt for a blimpish successful a wool-silk blend oregon a progressive successful pared-down wool, Mancinelli wants to marque definite the cloth inactive fits.

His top wish, helium says, is to spot a freshly elected pope wearing 1 of his cassocks connected the balcony for that seminal infinitesimal — thing that's ne'er happened. He's 1 of a fistful of tailors who donate these archetypal papal robes, making it thing of a quiescent competition.

The conclave that volition elite a successor to Pope Francis – and yet a caller person of the 1.4-billion beardown Catholic Church – begins Wednesday.

Gammarelli, different family-run ecclesiastical tailor favoured by the Vatican, has confirmed it didn't person a pre-conclave bid for a caller acceptable of virgin cassocks — those archetypal achromatic robes prepared for a recently elected pope — marking the archetypal clip successful 46½ years.

Italian media suggests the Vatican has capable unworn cassocks connected hand, and is honouring Pope Francis's connection of biology and economical sustainability.

WATCH | Who could regenerate Pope Francis?

Aside from those archetypal robes, Mancinelli has spent decades dressing popes from caput to heel. Papal fashion, helium says, has shifted from opulence to restraint — particularly nether Francis, who favoured modest, low-cost garments.

"Francis wanted a precise lightweight, robust wool," said Mancinelli. "Something practical. Benedict, connected the different hand, liked a wool-silk blend, much ceremonial and high-end."

John Paul II, helium adds, wore a robe of heavier wool, "not due to the fact that helium suffered the cold, but due to the fact that helium was chubbier and needed a much resilient fabric."

The cassock, oregon talare successful Italian, gets its sanction from the information that it is meant to brushwood the taloni — the heels. That hasn't changed. But axenic silk, helium says, has mostly fallen retired of favour.

"Silk was highly hard to enactment with," said Mancinelli. "It besides rips easy and doesn't past long."

Like a bully pope, helium says, wool is much forgiving.

Each cassock takes 5 oregon six days to complete. A defining detail: the 33 buttons that tally down the front, 1 for each twelvemonth of Christ's life.

"Sometimes we chopped the fig backmost a spot to velocity things up oregon for applicable reasons," helium admitted, similar the pope's height.

Mancinelli began crafting clerical garments astatine property 15. Since the 1960s, he's tally his engaged store that attracts priests, bishops and cardinals buying for cassocks, mitres (the stiff ceremonial chapeau worn by cardinals, archbishops and popes), mozzettas (those small dome-shaped enarthrosis capes), and fascias (the sash worn astir the waist).

His daughter, Laura, works the beforehand of the store portion his grandson Lorenzo, 23, sits by him astatine the sewing machine, grooming to instrumentality implicit 1 day.

"The collar, the hem, the finishing details," said Lorenzo, listing disconnected the astir time-consuming tasks.

Mancinelli started moving connected the cassocks for the adjacent pope adjacent earlier Francis died — to beryllium capable to instrumentality Lorenzo done each step.

The robes are scheduled to beryllium implicit by May 5. Then, Mancinelli volition present them successful idiosyncratic to the Vatican.