Maybe it wasn’t rude. I first thought he was referring to carn-i-VAL, the time of celebration before Lent, the period of repentance and self-denial. It seems like good symbolism to me.
Maybe it was carnival in the root sense, as in “festival of the flesh”.
not all Americans know the term FASCHING ~ but they do know what A CARNIVAL is ~ but I take it he was referring to the period of time when such festivals and parades take place ~ and, that’s over.
I think this Pope is going to avoid any signs of ostentation. He showed several signs of that in his first minutes as Pope.
He refused the red cape and first appeared to the people wearing simple white papal robes and black shoes.
Rather than bless the crowd first, he asked them to pray for him. He is a humble man.
The pontiff also broke with another tradition by refusing to use a platform to elevate himself above the cardinals standing with him as he was introduced to the world as Pope Francis. He said, “I’ll stay down here”.