Image via flickr / Catholic Church (England and Wales)
A man disguised as a Bishop attempted to sneak into a pre-conclave meeting today in Vatican City. The man, discovered to be Ralph Napierski, was attempting to enter a meeting to discuss the date of the upcoming meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect a new Pope. Though the man did not make it into Paul VI Hall where the meeting was being held, his disguise of black sneakers, too-short clerical robe, and purple-scarf-turned-sash did fool Swiss guards at a nearby check-point.
The man claimed to be a member of “Corpus Dei,” a fake Catholic order he himself appears to have founded. He also identified himself as a member of the non-existant “Italian Orthodox Church” and referred to himself as Basilius. Before being discovered, the man managed to mix with the 140 Cardinals in attendance, decry errors made by the church in dealing with priests accused of child abuse to reports, and take a photograph shaking hands with a senior Italian Cardinal.
According to The Telegraph, Napierski’s website for Corpus Dei describes him as an advocate of “Jesus Yoga” and the inventor of a system “to control computers with the power of thoughts.”
[via Worldcrunch.com, The Telegraph]
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Eva Voinigescu is an intern at Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter @EvaVoinigescu.
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