As the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals meets to begin the process of selecting a new pope, a so-called "fake bishop (http://news.msn.com/world/fake-bishop-tries-to-crash-secret-vatican-meeting)" has been caught seeking out a true insider's look at the normally secretive process.
The impostor, identified as Ralph Napierski (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/04/fake-cardinal/1962197/), was reportedly caught sneaking into a gathering of cardinals. Before his ruse was discovered, Napierski had already passed by a security station manned by Swiss Guards and had even posed for photos with at least one high-profile (and real) cardinal.
According to USA Today, security became suspicious of Napierski (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/04/fake-cardinal/1962197/) when they realized his cassock seemed shorter than appropriate. Also tip-offs: Napierski wore a black fedora instead of a skull-cap, and his bright purple sash was actually a common scarf.
According to The Telegraph, Napierski told reporters he belonged to the reportedly non-existent Italian Orthodox Church (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/9907848/Fake-bishop-tries-to-sneak-into-Vatican-meeting.html). A blog that appears to be associated with Napierski (http://thecorpusdei.wordpress.com/about-us/) claims he is a bishop of a Catholic order called the Corpus Dei, also said to be fabricated. Napierski's contact information (http://thecorpusdei.wordpress.com/contact/) on the blog points to an address in Germany.
Agence France-Presse reports Napierski told members of the media that his name is "Basilius," (http://www.france24.com/en/20130304-fake-bishop-tries-sneak-vatican-meeting) and that he took particular issue with the Catholic church moving priests accused of pedophilia to different churches.
Via: HuffingtonPost