When leaving the Vatican City on the right side and taking Via del Mascherino, it takes just a few minutes to reach the emblematic Roman street of Borgo Pio. With its medieval architecture, this pedestrian street stands out for its peaceful atmosphere, dotted with bakeries, ice cream parlors, and trattorias that, in these spring months, extend their tables and umbrellas outdoors. But beyond its touristic charm, Borgo Pio holds a unique connection with the Holy See: at numbers 89 and 90 is Mancinelli Clero, a small ecclesiastical tailor shop that has tailored liturgical vestments for three Popes and dozens of cardinals.
As soon as you cross the threshold of the store, the first thing that catches the eye is the display of color: a rainbow of chasubles -green, purple with gold embroidery, and red-, showcases with zucchettos, and racks of stoles, some specially designed for the Jubilee 2025. Inside the showcase on the counter, a myriad of crosses are aligned: golden, silver, some set with precious stones. There are even authentic replicas of Pope Francis' pectoral cross on display.
An employee is sewing the black tassel of a biretta at the worktable when Raniero Mancinelli emerges from the small workshop hidden at the back of the store. "Ciao," he greets. "Give me five minutes, please," says the 87-year-old owner and tailor, gesturing towards the iPhone he holds in his hand. He is about to be interviewed by the Italian radio RAI.
While the reporter and the photographer wait, bishops and priests of all nationalities enter and exit the store. A Hong Kong cleric approaches the shop assistant and asks to see the available options of liturgical vestments. "We have wool or polyester," she says, holding two cassocks. "The wool one will be cooler if it's hot tomorrow," she adds, referring to the Pontiff's funeral, which will be held in St. Peter's Square this Saturday. Minutes later, two assistants of Cardinal Rouco Varela arrive, in charge of "buying the red zucchetto" -a colloquial way of saying zucchetto- that "he needs for the Holy Father's funeral service." They recognize in Mancinelli the excellence of a craft that, stitch by stitch, keeps alive the tradition of handmade ecclesiastical tailoring.
The tailor opened his business in 1962 during the Second Vatican Council. But he took his first steps in the trade as a teenager when he started as an apprentice to a craftsman at the age of 15. "I am from Camerino, a town in eastern Italy. My father was a farmer and wanted me to be one too, but I had other ideas," the tailor tells EL MUNDO. "I came to Rome and never looked back."
-What was the first outfit you made?
-Good question... no one had ever made it for me before. The first one was for a bishop, I think Iraqi. He ordered three vestments.
Today, six decades later, he still leads Mancinelli Clero alongside his daughter Laura and his grandson Lorenzo, who we find sewing a red sash with an old Necchi sewing machine that his grandfather bought second-hand as soon as he opened the store. "This machine is over 100 years old. We do everything manually," explains the 23-year-old. The image is one of contrast: next to the machine, which could well be for decoration, rests on the table a state-of-the-art iMac computer. Tradition versus modernity. Raniero smiles and adds, "I have a file in the workshop with the measurements of all the cardinals and the Popes, so we can tailor-make whatever they need."
Photos of the tailor with John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis hang on the walls of the workshop. All three trusted him for their vestments -including the last two when they were still cardinals-, as did many other members of the College of Cardinals, earning him the trust and respect of the high ecclesiastical hierarchy. Not in vain, the next Pontiff to emerge from the conclave, scheduled for the coming weeks, will step onto the balcony of St. Peter's with a sash and a zucchetto tailored by him.
-How is a Pope's outfit made?
-It starts with taking measurements, then cutting the material and starting to sew.
-But if you don't know who will be chosen, how do you do it?
-I make two or three sizes: small, medium, and large. Then they are presented at the Vatican, and the new Pope wears the one that fits best, also to go out with the cassock that suits him best. It is a simple white cassock, without symbols, without embroidery, without anything. Then, each one adds what they need, what they desire. The only thing they put on top is the white sash, which we have already made with a golden detail.
-Do you feel pressure when tailoring a cassock for a Pope?
-The pressure is there, no doubt, but I do it with a lot of love and affection. And that gratifies me a lot. When I work for a Pope, I try to set aside emotions.
Pope Francis' papacy stood out for its simplicity in all aspects, and fashion was no exception. The question now is whether his successor will continue in the same line or not. "I cannot affirm it with certainty, but it is true that the style of the previous Pope usually influences that of the next one," says Mancinelli. "Perhaps the era of simplicity has come to stay."
It is inevitable to ask him about the deceased Pontiff, whom he had the opportunity to meet on several occasions. "He was always very kind, very courteous, with a smile. He had one of those looks that said it all. Not many words were needed. However, he had a great sense of humor," he recounts.
Mancinelli recounts that Jorge Mario Bergoglio visited his store a few days before the conclave that elected him Pope to buy a cardinal's sash. "When I told him the price, he jokingly replied, 'Ah, you're a good thief'," he recounts with laughter. "But he paid for it! So that means he was happy," he adds.
With the Pope Emeritus, he had a long-standing friendship that began when Joseph Ratzinger was already a cardinal. "Three days after becoming Pope, he invited me to a private mass," he shares. He also had closeness with a cardinal who worked closely with John Paul II. "He used to come to the shop a lot, so we ended up getting to know each other quite well. One day, he invited me to breakfast at the Vatican and then asked me, 'How was breakfast?' I thanked him for the invitation. And he said, 'But do you know what you are eating? Those are the cookies that His Holiness John Paul II just had for breakfast at this same table,'" he recounts. "I couldn't believe it!"
The tailor of the Popes knows that his legacy is sewn into every fold of the white cassocks that have crossed St. Peter's Square. No words are needed to perceive the gratitude he feels for the trust of his clients every time they enter his shop. And even if one day its doors close, the invisible thread that connects his work with history will endure, as firm and resistant as the faith that has guided him all these years.