From a General Audience on March 2006:
Posted on 02/19/2007 7:46:46 AM PST by Salvation
Not only him but in the Cardinal electors as well. Just before the conclave, EWTN had an interview with a few of the electors. One was saying how distraught he had been, how he couldn't imagine anyone taking JP2's place. Then he decided to pray before the Blessed Sacrament about for whom he should vote. The answer came to him in an obvious way. They of course didn't tell EWTN for whom they were going to vote, but they were beaming like they were very pleased and excited with what the Holy Spirit was guiding them to do.
That is true. He is a very holy man. But I worry about him all the time. When I saw him at the audience, I was really impressed by the way people loved him. And then I recalled how people had loved Jesus on Palm Sunday - and called for His death only a few days later. Nobody is going to call for the Pope's death, obviously, but I suspect that he is going to start making the hard decisions that are going to make enemies. Pray for him!
Agreed and Benedict XVI certainly has a refined aesthetic appreciation of music, art and literature, so it makes sense that it would extend to fabrics. It's just that as a priest his wardrobe is fairly limited and somewhat specialized, not to mention that clerical garb doesn't change much. Knowing the best tailors of ecclesiastical "threads" in Rome is not quite the same as knowing the latest trends or current "in" designers in fashion.
The better quality priests' clerical garb and liturgical vestments are usually made from wool, silk, linen or cotton. As you probably know, Italy also makes some of the finest textiles in the world, including an amazing spectrum of wool from the lightest summer weight wool to a thick cashmere used in jackets. That is pretty cool about the cloth you made being crafted into a jacket for your wife. Bravo!
My guess is a lot of his preference had to do with people who knew how to make clothing for someone of his size.
From a General Audience on March 2006:
Just asking ....
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Amen. I feel the same.
Good idea!
It may be that, too, but when I was in Rome, I was amused to see the clergy - including some of our portlier American specimens - running off to the ecclesiastical clothiers that surround the Vatican to get some fine duds! It's a pretty harmless vanity, certainly; and I'd rather have them dressed in a snappy tailored cassock than flopping around in their tee-shirts, as was the fashion not too long ago. I think one of the reasons the Pope dresses well is to emphasize the dignity of the office.
I was just reading, somewhere, about the time Ronald Reagan visited the Campus of Berkley back in the 60s. Studnets were milling about pontificating and yelling and boasting and they surrounded Reagan's car as he was leaving the Campus after a speech. They were yelling "we are the future" etc and Reagan took his papers and wrote on the back a short response. He held it up to the window. It read...
"If you are the future, I'm selling my Bonds."
The camauro ("Santa hat") and ermine trimmed mozzetta that Benedict wears in the cooler (no pun intended) weather were, in fact, gifts from a wealthy friend or friends of his.
I think that hat is great! Actually, the ermine goes well with his lovely white hair. While we're doing fashion observations...
In an attempt to get back on topic, Sandro Magister wrote a column, Two New Documents in the Works: On Bioethics, and on Natural Law, about these two documents.
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