"Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here... For the Cardinalatial Jubilee"

(Photo removed by order of the Houston Chronicle.)

To honor Cardinal Foley, even the Mummers showed up for an unprecedented drill before the Pope's judging stand following the Ring Mass....

Actually, however tremendous the thought, Philadelphians don't have a monopoly on ostrich plumes and sequins:

A little rain did nothing to deter fifteen women who came 6,000 miles to perform the traditional religious dances of Mexico in honor of new Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega. As most people fled in the rain, the dancers of Matachines de Monterrey were as hard to miss as they were exuberant.

A video sampling of the dances -- here performed in honor of St Mark's Day:



Mexican Mummery -- another gift of a universal church... and the perfect reminder that US Catholicism's "new St Patrick's Day" is just around the corner.

PHOTO: Smiley N. Pool/(Removed by order of the) Houston Chronicle

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