The Immacolata
Once a year, the Pope ventures into designer-label land to celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, traditionally the day on which pre-Christmas festivities in Italy begin in earnest. To celebrate the Virgin Mary, John Paul II visits Piazza di Mignanelli, next door to the Spanish Steps, and with the aid of the city fire brigade and an extendable ladder, hangs a garland round the neck of a statue of the Madonna … atop the marble column just outside McDonald’s.
