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Corriere’s Vatican reporter, Bruno Bartoloni, quoted the 70-year-old Mr Cattaneo’s three children, Francesco, Roberto and Cristina, as confirming that they were fitting out “our first Pope”.Corriere quoted Vatican sources as denying the change amounted to “a betrayal” of Gammarelli, insisting that the tailor’s shop remained the official papal outfitters.The sources likened Benedict’s choice to that of Pope Pius XII, the wartime pontiff, who also made extensive use of a “family tailor”, while Gammarelli remained the official supplier of dress to the Holy Father.”Benedict XVI sticks to his routines, to the furniture he had in his flat, to the old leather briefcase that he continues to carry under his arm when he goes to synods, for all those things with which older people are understandably affectionate,” said Mr Bartoloni, a veteran reporter of the Holy See.Mr Gammarelli angrily denied, meanwhile, that his services were no longer being used exclusively “This is an ungracious falsehood,” he said. He effectively ditched Annibale Gammarelli, of the eponymous firm of outfitters who have been making papal cassocks since 1792, in favour of Mancinelli, a small shop that has been operating for a mere two decades.”Gammarelli’s cassocks are sewn beyond all the rules of tailoring art,” the German publication quoted Raniero Mancinelli as saying “The Pope was visibly not comfortable in them. So he came back to us and is breaking with tradition.”In addition to designer sunglasses, the Pope has favoured padded quilt jackets, jumpsuits, baseball caps and red Prada shoes, contrasting with the worn, brown, slip-on loafers which his predecessor was wearing when his body was laid out in state after his death earlier this year.The Corriere della Sera newspaper, however, reported that the Pope had merely returned to Alessandro Cattaneo, a tailor who owns a shop called Euroclero, whom Benedict used when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. The Roman Catholic leader has sparked what are being dubbed “cassock wars” in the Vatican by dumping the services of the papal robemakers, who have been doing the job since 1792, and adopting a tailor who has only been in business for the past 20 years.
A report in today’s Tablet says: “It is already clear that he likes wearing nice threads and expensive sunglasses (which it is said were a gift) and publicly he has been celebrating Mass in some elegant new vestments tailor-made inside the Vatican.”According to the British Catholic newspaper’s Rome reporter, Robert Mickens, a turf war may have broken out between the two tailors trying to win the Pope’s business.A German magazine first reported last month that the Pope had changed his tailor.

Pope Benedict XVI may not yet have achieved the mass popularity of his Polish predecessor, but his fondness for designer shades and Prada shoes is winning him new fans in the fashion world. He has two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren.Next month, gay and lesbian couples in Britain, including priests, will be able to register their civil partnerships.. Here we have partnered gay bishops in England but they remain hidden to the wider church.”But other sections of the church were less enthusiastic about Bishop Robinson’s visit. The Rev George Curry, chairman of the Church Society, an evangelical grouping within the Church of England, said Bishop Robinson was not worthy of the office he holds. “He has adopted and maintains a lifestyle that is totally contrary to the will of God as declared in the written word of God,” he said.”The real question is what are we doing about the people within the Church of England and within Anglicanism who are adopting views with regards to matters sexual which are contrary to the plain teaching of the word of God.”We have a collective failure of leadership unfortunately – there may be individuals who are the exception to the rule – among the bishops of the Church of England to maintain and teach orthodoxy in as clear and as gracious a manner as they should do.”Bishop Robinson has been with his partner, Mark Andrew, for 15 years He met him after his marriage failed. and came as part of the Archbishop’s commitment to listening to the voices of all concerned in the challenges facing the Anglican Communion.”Last night Bishop Robinson was a guest speaker at the Oxford Union, and over the weekend he will attend events in London and Stockport to mark the 10th anniversary of Changing Attitude, the gay Christian pressure group.The Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, said Bishop Robinson’s visit would encourage those who longed for the Church of England to unreservedly welcome lesbian and gay people.

He said: “It is sad that he is unable to preside or preach at our anniversary service because of church rules which prohibit a partnered gay bishop from participating fully in an act of Christian worship in England.”We are glad he is coming because it presents into our midst a partnered gay bishop who is legally and properly ordained by his church and makes visible and present what is already a reality. Bishop Robinson has come under increasing pressure to resign but has steadfastly refused.Lambeth Palace said the Dr Williams had met Bishop Robinson privately in London and discussed “the range of problems that have arisen”. A spokesman described the encounter as “friendly but candid … If they failed, the commission warned, the communion would fracture into a collection of disparate churches.But leaders of the Anglican Communion in the United States have refused to apologise for the consecration or for adopting a unilateral position over gay clergy. Three powerful emperors ruled for most of this period: the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), the Yongzheng Emperor (1723-35) and the Qianlong Emperor (1736-95).An Academy spokeswoman said that the exhibition was “an unprecedented glimpse of some of the greatest Chinese treasures”.The exhibition, which is sponsored by Goldman Sachs, opens to the public on Saturday, 12 November and will run until 17 April next year.. The Anglican church’s first openly gay bishop has met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in a further attempt to prevent a schism in the worldwide communion whose 76 million membership is deeply divided on homosexual clergy. Bishop Gene Robinson, who lives with his male partner, was consecrated two years ago as Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States.

Many conservative clergy believe that the Bible explicitly condemns homosexuality and African church leaders say it is a strong cultural taboo in many of their areas.
The Lambeth Commission, established by the Dr Williams after Bishop Robinson’s appointment, had urged conservatives and liberals to use their faith to find agreement over the issue. The Royal Academy in London will take on a scarlet hue on Monday to mark an official Chinese state visit and the opening of its blockbuster show of Oriental treasures. Other city landmarks, including the 120-metre riverside fa?e of Somerset House and the BA London Eye, are to join the celebrations, painting the town red with light for the occasion. Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Madame Liu Yongqing are arriving for a state visit, which will include a banquet at Buckingham Palace and the official opening – with the Queen – of the Royal Academy show.

China: the Three Emperors, 1662-1795, includes 400 treasures from the Forbidden City in Beijing whose loan was negotiated by the academy with the Chinese government.
The show, originally due to be held next year, was brought forward to coincide with the trip, the first Chinese state visit since 1999. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited China in 1986.Among the treasures are ritual paintings, ceremonial robes, armour, words, jades and bronzes, porcelain and lacquer ware, painted scrolls and palace furnishings collected by three of the most powerful emperors in China’s last dynasty, the Qing. Many of the items have never previously left China and, indeed, many have not been seen within China.It will be the biggest display of Chinese art in London since a ground-breaking exhibition in 1935, also at the Royal Academy, which forced even experts at the British Museum to re-consider the significance of early Chinese culture. It is more than 30 years since the academy staged its acclaimed Genius of China exhibition.The show focuses on the artistic riches of the 17th and 18th century after the Xing dynasty, who were Manchu not Chinese, had overthrown the Ming dynasty.