- The tourist took off his clothes and stood naked at the main altar
- The protester appeared to have the words “Save the children of Ukraine” written on his back.
Visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica got an unexpected eye-opener Thursday when a naked man leapt into the high altar of the Vatican Basilica.
The tourist took off his clothes and stood naked on the main altar in the middle of the church, protesting the war in Ukraine.
The unidentified protester appeared to have written “Save the children of Ukraine” on his back in black ink.
He was wearing nothing but his socks and shoes as his fellow visitors stood aghast at his worn-out condition under the St. Peter’s Baldashine under which the St. was buried.
Others snapped pictures of the surprising moment in the 16th century church, Silerie is not possum reported, which some Italian media called a blasphemous act.
In addition to having an inscription written across his back calling to save the children of Ukraine, the man was also reported to have sustained cuts on his body from his fingernails.
The Vatican gendarmes rushed to deal with the man, forcing him to put on his clothes again and get down from the consecrated altar.
The officials then handed the protester over to the Italian police, who took him in for questioning.
The incident occurred just before the church was closed to visitors on Thursday afternoon.
The high altar under St. Peter’s Basilica is a baldachin – a large bronze canopy carved in the Baroque style – in the center of the church under the dome.
It marks where St. Peter’s tomb is underneath and was installed in the 17th century.
This isn’t the first time a visitor to the Vatican City has wiped his clothes.
In 2016, the Vatican gendarmerie arrested a nurse after she was barred from everything and entered the building in front of shocked churchgoers.
Brazilian Luis Carlos Giampaoli reportedly entered the church in clothes, hid in a corner to undress before exploding, wearing only shoes and a backpack.
He walked up and down the main nave while shouting litanies and beckoning onlookers.
Giampaoli was later transferred to a psychiatric ward at the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome.
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