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FILE – The St. Peter’s basilica is seen from inside on November 1, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Laszlo Szirtesi\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
A man is accused of urinating on the Altar of the Confession at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica on Friday, prompting a swift response from security personnel and drawing the attention of many visitors.<\/p>\n
Security staff and plainclothes police officers quickly intervened and escorted the man out of the church, according to multiple Italian news outlets. The incident occurred in full view of a large crowd, with footage circulating widely online.<\/p>\n
Vatican officials<\/a> had not immediately issued a statement, though some reports indicated that Pope Leo was informed and “shocked to learn of the news.”<\/p>\n The episode is the latest in a series of disturbances<\/a> at the basilica in recent years. In February, another individual damaged ceremonial items on the same altar, according to the Catholic News Agency.<\/a><\/p>\n MAN FACES HATE CRIME CHARGES OVER ‘HUNDRED PLUS’ EXPLOSIVES, THREATS OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL AHEAD OF SCOTUS EVENT<\/a><\/p>\n “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,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement to ANSA.<\/a><\/p>\n A similar incident occurred in 2023, when a Polish man staged a protest near the altar, prompting the Vatican to hold a penitential rite afterward.\u00a0<\/p>\n REMAINS OF HISTORY’S MOST BELOVED SAINT, ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI, TO BE DISPLAYED IN RARE EVENT<\/a><\/p>\n The man reportedly undressed and climbed onto the altar, with the words “Save children of Ukraine” written on his back.<\/p>\n “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,” Vatican News reported at the time. “After confirming his identity, he was handed over to the Italian police and issued an expulsion order.”<\/p>\n LGBTQ CATHOLICS MARCH THROUGH ST. PETER\u2019S BASILICA IN JUBILEE RITE AS VATICAN CALENDAR ENTRY STIRS CONTROVERSY<\/a><\/p>\n Under the Code of Canon Law (Canon 1211)<\/a>, serious acts committed in a sacred place that cause scandal to the faithful are considered violations of the site\u2019s holiness. When this occurs, public worship is suspended until a penitential rite is performed to restore the sanctity of the church.<\/p>\n According to the Ceremonial of Bishops,<\/a> such rites \u2013 often a Mass or a Liturgy of the Word \u2013 should take place as soon as possible following a desecration.<\/p>\n Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to\u00a0stepheny.price@fox.com.<\/p>\n Read more from FOX News Digital<\/a><\/p>\n Religion<\/a>World<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article FILE – The St. Peter’s basilica is seen from inside on November 1, 2017 in Vatican City,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[630,115,1739,202,204,203,199,201,200,1740],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-news","tag-religion","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}