ROME -- Here's what happened yesterday when a reporter stepped up to the counter at Gammarelli, the Vestments 'R' Us of ecclesiastical wearing apparel:
First man behind counter: "You are journalist? I no speak English too much."
Reporter: "Does anyone here speak English much?"
First man: "No. No one."
Second man (reaching for a bolt of fabric on a shelf behind the counter): "I am sorry. We are very busy. Very, very busy. So very, very busy. We are sorry. So very, very busy."
About 10 minutes later, Archbishop Thomas Joseph Winning of Scotland, one of the 30 prelates from around the world being elevated to cardinal tomorrow, walked into the famous shop off the Piazza Minerva in Rome. In with him came three television camera crews and two photographers.
The staff at Gammarelli refused to speak to reporters -- "We are so very, very busy" -- but allowed photographers a few shots of Archbishop Winning getting a final fitting of the scarlet vestments he will wear during weekend ceremonies.
"This event is one giant photo opportunity," said a smiling video producer from Glasgow. "It's a major religious event, but it's also one of the largest Catholic photo opportunities you'll ever see."
The Gammarelli family has been outfitting monsignors, bishops, archbishops and cardinals, some of whom became pope, since the late 18th century, when Annibale Gammarelli went into business in the small shop, specializing in "sartoria per ecclesiastici."
The front window is filled with examples of the ornate robes and capes made of watered silk by Gammarelli tailors over the past two centuries. However, in costume as well as ceremony, the elevation of cardinals is not as elaborate as it once was. The ensemble in Gammarelli's window this week is from the early 20th century and is out of date.
Unlike Archbishop Winning, Archbishop Keeler chose not to have a photographic entourage at his final fitting at Gammarelli.
He slipped in and out of the shop during his first day here, and there was no indication that he would make another trip. By yesterday, elements of his ensemble were in a box by the front door, marked "Keeler."
Also by the front door are photographs of three of Gammarelli's ** most famous clients -- Pope Pius IX, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. Across the street are two more shops specializing in religious vestments, making the corner at Via di Santa Chiarra the fashion district for prelates.
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When in Rome, Americans are warned, do as the Romans do. But when in Rome on Thanksgiving, go to Naples and see what your cousin's cooking.
At least one Baltimore family made an effort to find a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner somewhere in Italy yesterday.
Theodore Wallace, traveling with the Keeler contingent, called his New Jersey cousin, Lt. Col. Richard Payne, stationed in Naples, to let him know that he was in-country. Mr. Wallace's cousin suggested that the family take a train to Naples for a turkey dinner at his home.
So Mr. Wallace, his wife, Denise, a Catholic school principal, and their 7-year-old daughter, Sarah -- "a sixth generation Baltimore Catholic," her mother calls her -- left for Naples after Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Keeler. Also on the trip was Mrs. Wallace's mother, Phyllis Douglas, a Baltimore middle school principal.
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At the welcome dinner for the Maryland and Pennsylvania pilgrims at Villa Pamphili, there was a culinary effort to acknowledge Thanksgiving -- tortellini in Bolognese sauce, turkey cutlet with cheese served with string beans and potatoes.
It's the thought that counts.
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Those on Archbishop Keeler's trip got a chance for Rome sight-seeing by bus yesterday. As usual, the sidewalks of the city were crowded with pedestrians and tourists, the streets pulsating with streams of small cars and motorbikes.
As a group of Baltimoreans passed a large newsstand festooned with newspapers and magazines, someone remarked: "Another good thing about being in Rome -- a whole newsstand without O. J. Simpson's face."
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At Archbishop Keeler's invitation, Archbishop John P. Foley, the American prelate assigned to the Pontificate Council for Social Communication, took a break from his duties at the Vatican to brief the contingent on what goes on there.
He did it by the numbers: About 400 people live in Vatican City, including 100 members of the Swiss Guard, none of whom are anything but Swiss. The Roman Curia, the central administrative office of the church, has about 300 employees. Total Vatican employees: 2,200.
Archbishop Foley noted that the Vatican serves an estimated 950 million Catholics. That constitutes a remarkably low ratio of government employees per person, he said.
If such a ratio existed in the United States, he said, there would be only about 500 people working in Washington.
"Of course," he said, "some would say only 500 people work in Washington now anyway."