A man, on Friday, urinated on the Altar of Confession during a Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican before being taken away by authorities as tourists watched in horror.
The unidentified man climbed the altar of the famous place of worship before dropping his pants to his ankles and desecrating all over the holy grounds.
According to the local newspaper, Corriere della Sera’s Rome edition, the man “urinated under the stunned gaze of hundreds of tourists.”
Officers in plainclothes quickly removed the man from the premises.
When authorities approached him, he quickly bent down and yanked his jeans back up as he flashed his buttocks to the tourists, videos taken by bystanders show. The shocking incident occurred at the 9:00 am Holy Mass, but it remains unclear whether Pope Leo XIV was leading it.
While the Holy See Press Office has not released an official statement on the incident, the local outlet Il Tempo reported that the news reached Pope Leo, who was “shocked.”
It’s unclear if the man was arrested or charged after the urination.
The Friday incident was not the first time someone attacked the famous altar.
In February, a man desecrated the main altar by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras to the ground.
After throwing the candelabras, the man attempted to remove the altar cloth.
However, he was quickly detained by security agents and escorted outside. “This is an episode of a person with a serious mental disability, who has been detained by the Vatican Police and then placed at the disposal of the Italian authorities,” Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said.
In a security breach in June 2023, a man approached the altar. Although he didn’t do much while standing at the high altar, photos posted online revealed the words “Save children of Ukraine” written on his back with a marker.
“As officers of the Vatican Gendarmerie approached, the man did not resist but cooperated as they led him to the police station inside the Vatican,” reported Vatican News. “After ascertaining his identity, the man was handed over to the Italian police, according to the Italy-Holy See Treaty, and was issued an expulsion order and instructed to leave Italian territory.”
St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the most sacred places in the Roman Catholic Church and a renowned work of Renaissance architecture, attracts around 10 million tourists every year, according to local outlets.
Earlier this year, the famous basilica made headlines when Pope Francis’ body was moved there in April for a period of lying in state, allowing the public to pay their respects. However, breaking from tradition, he was not buried in St. Peter’s Basilica, but at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
- Agency Report