Pope Leo ‘shocked’ by tourist urinating on St Peter’s Basilica altar during Holy Mass

Pope Leo XIV was ‘shocked’ after learning that a man urinated on the Altar of Confession during Friday’s Holy Mass at the iconic St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

A man has shocked the Vatican^[1] by urinating on the Altar of Confession during a holy mass at St Peter’s Basilica before being quickly taken away by authorities.

The unidentified man climbed onto the altar of the historic church, dropped his pants to his ankles and desecrated the holy site on Friday. He “urinated under the stunned gaze of hundreds of tourists”, according to Corriere della Sera’s^[2] Rome edition, which reported that the act took place just steps from Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s 17th-century Baldachin – the giant bronze canopy over the high altar marking the tomb of St. Peter.

Officers in plain clothes quickly escorted him out of the basilica. Videos taken by bystanders show that as authorities approached, he bent down and pulled up his jeans, flashing his buttocks to the onlookers.

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The incident took place at the 9.00am Holy Mass, though it remains unclear whether Pope Leo XIV was presiding.

While the Holy See Press Office has not released an official statement, local outlet Il Tempo reported that the news reached the pope, who was “shocked”. It also remains unclear if the man was arrested or charged.

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, told ANSA^[5]: “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.”

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This was not the first attack on the altar. In February, a man climbed on top of the main altar, threw six candelabras to the ground and attempted to remove the altar cloth, but was quickly detained by security agents.

In June 2023, another man approached the high altar at St. Peter’s Basilica. Although he did not act at the altar itself, photos posted online showed the words “Save children of Ukraine^[6]” written on his back.

“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 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.”