VATICAN CITY
Telegraph
The gathering of cardinals in the Vatican was overshadowed not just by scandal but by farce too, when a German man masquerading as a bishop tried to infiltrate the meeting.
By Nick Squires, Vatican City
5:16PM GMT 04 Mar 2013
Ralph Napierski, a self-appointed bishop from an apparently fictional order called Corpus Dei, managed to get through a checkpoint manned by Swiss Guards but was stopped before entering the Paul VI Hall, where the cardinals were gathering.
Dressed in fake bishop’s vestments, complete with a purple sash, Mr Napierski smiled to photographers as he mixed with more than 140 cardinals from around the world as they filed into the hall to discuss the challenges facing the Church and possible “papabili” or papal candidates.
On closer inspection the sash turned out to be a scarf.
Unlike the elderly cardinals, who wore their distinctive red skull caps, the impostor wore a black fedora-style hat with a rim.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.