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Man Desecrates Main Altar of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Throws Candelabras to the Ground

Bernini’s famous baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Walter Sanchez Silva

By Walter Sanchez Silva

ACI Prensa Staff, 08 February, 2025 / 4:20 am (ACI Africa).

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. 

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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.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Walter Sanchez Silva

Walter Sánchez Silva is a senior writer for ACI Prensa (https://www.aciprensa.com). With more than 15 years of experience, he has reported from important ecclesial events in Europe, Asia and Latin America during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. E-mail: walter@aciprensa.com

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