Man attacks high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican
A man desecrated the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in the
Vatican by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras that were
on the altar to the ground, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
After
throwing the candelabras, the man began to remove the altar cloth, as
can be seen in a video posted on social media. The subject was then
quickly detained by security agents.
According to ANSA, the suspect, of Romanian origin, was detained by
the Vatican Police, after which he was identified and charged by agents
of the Vatican Inspectorate.
“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,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo
Bruni, told ANSA.
According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the man was arrested because the basilica’s alarm was activated when he stood on the altar.
In 2023 a similar incident was recorded when a man climbed the high altar and undressed, after which he was also arrested
The Code of Canon Law,
the law that regulates the Catholic Church, establishes in canon 1210
that “in a sacred place” such as St. Peter’s Basilica, “only those
things which serve the exercise or promotion of worship, piety, or
religion are permitted in a sacred place; anything not consonant with
the holiness of the place is forbidden.”
