So, it came as quite a surprise when I found out that Rome has a carnival too. Of course, there is a pagan carnival, that popular holiday, whose origin goes back more than 5,000 years to Egypt and Sumer, the one that everyone told me about but that I saw very little of in the street except for a few children in fancy dress. But the real carnival, that is known for its permissiveness and a certain chaos which combines elements of fancy dress, parades and street parties took place last May 1st during the celebration of the beatification of John Paul II,, the day of the boiling point of Christian carnivalesque festivity.
The city of Caesar filled up with all the Christian congregations that have ever existed or will exist. Taking advantage of their stay in the city and the wide range of tourist attractions that the past has left us, enormous groups of nuns, priests and pious people in the process of becoming priests, were walking around the city wearing an assortment of habits waiting for the big moment, forming improvised ecclesiastical parades.
Walking down the street was a priceless spectacle. I have never seen such a variety of colour and shape in one single garment (habit or cassock). The priests and high priests habits cover the whole Pantone colour spectrum. From the most classic basic black, to brown, sky blue and white, and finishing up with magenta. Magenta! That colour that we would never wear in any other garment, because it’s the equivalent of being a walking highlighted text, is worn by high-ranking Christians.
And the sandals. Another basic garment common to the overheated globetrotting tourist and to servants of the Christian faith. Each cassock or habit has its corresponding sandals, according to the colour of the clothing. An authentic tribute to the Fellini film “Roma”.
And it was that day when, suddenly, the phrase that I heard my father say every year at Easter made more sense than ever: “the carnival for priests is coming”.
TO BE CONTINUED... NEXT WEEK MORE!! > "ROME’S FOOTBALL POLITICS"
IN TREATMENT - METALOCUS.
DIRECTOR: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA. COORDINATION: INÉS LALUETA. ORGANIZATION: INÉS LALUETA, PEDRO NAVARRO. ENGLISH VERSION: KAREN SIMPSON. GUESTS FIRST SEASON: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA, MARINA DIEZ-CASCÓN, SERGIO DIEZ-CASCÓN SOLER, LARA FERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ, CARLOS GERHARD PI-SUÑER, MONTSE PLA GARCÍA-CASTANY, XAVIER NICOLAU CUYÀS, FERNANDO RIAL PONCE, VERÓNICA ROSERO.
