15 seconds of fame… worth it?

At the end of the Mass for the canonization of three 19th-century founders of religious orders, including don Luigi Guanella, a loon at the end of Mass climbed out on one of the colonnade “arms” which embrace St. Peter’s Square, shouted a bit, and burned a Bible.  Not quite sure what point that was supposed to make.

I haven’t yet read who the guy is.  Vatican gendarmes, a bishop and the pope’s own bodyguard talked the man down from the upper reaches of the colonnade after he shouted, “Pope, where is Christ?” in English.

He is in custody.

We will see more and more of this.

UPDATE

From ANSA we learn that the man is a Romanian who has similar precedents in other cities.  He was up on the edge of the colonnade for a half hour, threatening to thrown himself off.

Some http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/raw-video-man-disrupts-mass-at-st-peter-s-27040312.html.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. Banjo pickin girl says:

    That poor man. Desperation. Nobody was listening to him.

  2. puma19 says:

    But what is more concerning about this whole episode is the question: HOW DID THIS MAN GET THERE? This is high over the piazza and when Mass was being celebrated by the Pontiff with thousands in the square. If he had some explosive device what would have happened in the square ? We have had the case of JPII being shot there and inside of a woman leaping on to the aisle and literally flooring the pope at Mass. There are loads of security around the pope when he walks around and many of them are plain rude to people pushing their hands away. I have seen this time and time again with nuns and priests even as heavy-handed security stop people touchin/reaching out to the pope. In St Patricks once I saw them push M Teresa’s nuns away – it was a disgrace. But here we have a man away from security who gets in and they can’t stop him. Something is massively wrong and there ought be questions on how this man gained entry there. Sadly this is very serious and may happen again as Fr Z notes. But Vatican security is a joke in many ways. Watch the men around Obama or Queen Elizabeth or Sarrkozy and you will see how its done, without rudeness or arrogance. The people need to be able to get close to the pope and the Vatican security need a wakeup call. The physical distancing of the pope from the people is becoming a major concern – what next, a glass cage around him. At least JPII had the strength of character and personality to move among the people and guards were not handling him like they do with BXVI.

  3. Dan says:

    Puma19 said,

    But what is more concerning about this whole episode is the question: HOW DID THIS MAN GET THERE?

    Maybe he got lost on his way to Zuccotti Park in NYC?

  4. irishgirl says:

    Good grief–that is my question too! What puma and dan said!
    Someone’s head in the Vatican security team is gonna roll…

  5. Dr. K says:

    Pull a stunt like that with the Qur’an and watch what happens to you.

  6. catholicmidwest says:

    Dr K is correct. Where is security?

    They were lucky this time. All they should do is deliver this character to the local psychiatric hospital for a going over. Next time?

  7. Andy Lucy says:

    I cannot help but wonder what type of restrictions the Holy Father’s protective detail must chafe under. However, there is exactly ZERO excuse for allowing ANYONE into a position such as this. An simple explosive in that area would likely have done more structural damage to the colonnade than injury to bystanders. However, his elevated position would have given him a near perfect position to snipe the Holy Father… and given the lack of security, other senior members of the Curia.

    I pray that the Holy Father is not martyred… because that could have very easily happened at this event.

  8. TNCath says:

    Sounds like the cheese has fallen off his cracker.

  9. irishgirl says:

    I think it would have been better not to have large outdoor Masses like this in St. Peter’s Square. It’s too risky.
    Better that they be inside the Basilica, where last year’s canonizations were.
    Dr. K-spot on regarding your comment, ‘Pull a stunt like that with the Koran [sic] and watch what happens to you.’ You got it!
    As I said on my previous comment, heads are ‘gonna roll’ inside Vatican security.
    They’ve got to do a better job of protecting the Holy Father and everyone else present at his Masses.
    Next time [God forbid!] they may not be so lucky.

  10. Brad says:

    This soul asked a legitimate question in a gestalt way. He is severely oppressed or even possessed by a demon(s). He’s desperately looking for help. May the Lord deliver him. Someone please reply and say “amen”.

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