Ranchi, Sept. 30: Cardinal-designate Telesphore Placidus Toppo may be the one in the spotlight, but Mohammed Kalam is the most sought after man at Archbishop House.
With barely 12 days left before the Cardinal-designate leaves for Rome added to the puja rush, the Kalam has to work hard and fast to stitch the cassocks that Toppo will carry along with him to Rome.
Toppo has to have everything in order at least 24 hours before he leaves on October 12 for his official investiture — referred to as the “consistory” — as Cardinal. The ceremony is slated for October 21.
Kalam, a resident of Gudri Mohalla, has been stitching cassocks for Toppo for the past 25 years since he was ordained a Bishop on October 7, 1978. The white cassock, the official dress for a bishop, lasted for nearly seven years till Toppo was elevated as the Archbishop of Ranchi on August 25, 1985. His tailor too, the Cardinal-designate said, got a promotion of sorts as he switched from stitching the all-white Bishop’s cassock to the Archbishop’s cassock which is white with red piping and red buttons along with a red sash.
When Toppo leaves for Rome on October 12, he will be carrying three different sets of cassocks —a vermilion-coloured one with piping, buttons and a sash of the same colour, a black cassock and a white cassock with vermilion-coloured piping, buttons and sashes.
“In Rome, white cassocks are worn only by the Pope. I would be required to don an all-black robe with a white skull cap — the official dress for bishops. For the investiture ceremony on October 21, the dress code specifies an all-vermilion cassock and a sash of the same colour. I would be needed to wear this at all official functions even after I come back to Ranchi,” Toppo said.
However, for daily wear, Toppo would be donning a white cassock with vermilion piping and buttons and a sash of the same colour.
Toppo will be the first tribal Cardinal in Asia. In India, he will join Cardinal Simon Pimenta of Mumbai and Cardinal B. Vidayathil of Ernakulam, Kerala.
Preparations have been launched for a gala reception at Ranchi on November 1, coinciding with All Saints Day, after Toppo returns from Rome on October 25.
