Chalices and chasubles: Fair displays industries revolving around religion
The face of Blessed Carlo Acutis is seen on a devotional pillow produced by Stringila — Italian for “Squeeze it” — religious art at the International Religious Products and Services Exhibition in Bologna, Italy, Feb. 13, 2024. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan).
By Justin McLellan, CNS – Incense slowly drifted upward, not below the vaulted ceiling of Bologna’s Basilica of San Petronio, but toward the fluorescent lighting and steel beams in the city’s convention centre, which for three days bore the trappings of a temple rather than those of a corporate meeting place.
From Feb. 11-13, the Italian city hosted more than 200 vendors of religious art, liturgical attire and services for churches, who showcased their offerings at the Devotio International Religious Products and Services Exhibition, sponsored in part by the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Retailers, owners of religious shops, wholesalers and manufacturers of religious goods were the primary buyers at the convention, though priests and religious sisters also represented a sizable portion of the crowd wandering through Bologna’s convention centre.
Organisers said more than 3,000 people attended. The rows of booths displayed items ranging from liturgical supplies and garments to wine and unleavened bread for consecration; a booth dedicated to promoting the Camino de Santiago, a popular pilgrimage route in northern Spain, also made a splash.
- Preparations begin for opening Holy Doors at Vatican, Rome basilicas - December 4, 2024
- Pope: Japan’s ‘hidden Christian’ sites are living witness of faith - December 3, 2024
- Nicaea and synodality: Pope talks about both with patriarch, theologians - December 3, 2024
