From Pope St, John Paul II to Pope Leo XIV, the Italian craftsman Adriano Stefanelli has left his mark on the history of the Vatican through a simple, everyday item which many of us may take for granted: shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shoemaker's relationship with the popes began at a very particular moment with John Paul II, and the craftsman can still vividly recall what that moment looked like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> Despite the pressure of having the popes as clients, the craftsman emphasized that the quality of his work does not change, regardless of who the client is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> Any differences between each pope's shoes lie in small details, which of course depend on each pope's preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> His latest work was naturally for our current pope, Leo XIV. But the initial set of papal shoes for the new pope, which were white with yellow trim, were declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> After Stefanelli made the requested change, he gifted the updated version to the Pope during a weekly audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the pairs of shoes for each pontiff have perhaps included a certain style, there are also practical considerations, like comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> But Stefanelli's prestige as a craftsman goes beyond the walls of the Vatican. Many of his clients include heads of state and international figures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> During this time, Stefanelli realized that Pope Benedict and President Bush shared something in common: they had the same shoe size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADRIANO STEFANELLI<\/strong> In addition to popes and presidents, the shoemaker's historic list of clients also includes patriarchs, famous business leaders, and major names in Italian industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Pope St, John Paul II to Pope Leo XIV, the Italian craftsman Adriano Stefanelli has left his mark on the history of the Vatican through a simple, everyday item which many of us may take for granted: shoes. The shoemaker's relationship with the popes began at a very particular moment with John Paul II, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":86096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/B6FA-IM5lMw","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bcalzolaioleoneeng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bcalzolaioleoneint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86100"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86109,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86100\/revisions\/86109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Artisan
The first time I made shoes for a Pope was for Pope Wojty\u0142a. It came about somewhat by chance. During a Via Crucis in the Easter period, when he arrived at one of the stations, Pope Wojty\u0142a suffered a collapse, a minor illness. I was deeply affected by that event, and I asked myself: what can I do to ease his suffering? And the answer was: if you know how to make a pair of shoes, make him a pair of shoes. And so it was done.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
Let\u2019s say the shoes are always the same: top-quality materials, with no difference at all.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
But the details can be very minimal. For example, Pope Wojty\u0142a wanted them with a rubber midsole, whereas Pope Benedict wanted only leather. That is the only difference.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
I had initially made two pairs, delivered on August 29 of last year. I had made two very beautiful pairs, white in color, lined in yellow with yellow trimming. However, they were delivered during a private audience and were not accepted because they were white. He wanted them strictly black, so I set to work to make them again in black.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
Pope Wojty\u0142a\u2019s were a model with an elastic insert on the instep, lined with sponge to make the shoe ultra-soft. Pope Benedict\u2019s were a completely smooth loafer, red in color. Pope Francis had a symbolic pair, because they were orthopedic shoes; since I am not qualified to make orthopedic footwear, I made him a slipper with the pontifical coat of arms embroidered on the upper. For Pope Leo, I followed the same model as Pope Benedict\u2019s red one, but made in the color black.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
The first model I made was for President Obama; then I made one for his wife, Michelle Obama. During Pope Benedict\u2019s trip to America, the president at the time, President Bush, noticed Pope Benedict\u2019s red loafers. Through the American embassy, I was asked to make the same model, but in black.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artisan
Fate would have it that Pope Benedict and Bush had the same shoe size: 42.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n