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Imposter Priest Confessor Nabbed at Vatican

Posted Jul 6, 08 8:00 AM CDT in Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – A phony priest was stopped just as he was about to hear confessions in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the BBC reports. The man had on the right clothes and produced valid-looking priestly documents and Vatican ID—"but the expert eye of our personnel didn't need much to sense something strange in his behavior," said a Vatican judge.

The pretender had previously tried to impersonate a priest in Italy, according to authorities. "It was a case of usurping an ecclesiastical title, and thus he was tried by our tribunal," said the judge, who did not reveal the verdict—or punishment.

Source BBC

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In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI stands in a confession booth during a penitential celebration.   (AP Photo)
The "expert eyes" of Vatican guards sensed something was wrong about the fake priest, even though his papers checked out.   ((c) stickywikit)
The judge who reported the story of the fake priest would not say when exactly the incident had occured, or who the man was.   ((c) Aube insanité)
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