Topless Women Protest Conclave

[HuffingtonPost]

VATICAN CITY, March 12 (Reuters) - Police wrestled two  topless women to the ground during a brief protest in St Peter's  Square outside the Vatican on Tuesday after cardinals withdrew  into the Sistine Chapel to begin the process of electing a new  pope.                

Witnesses said that at least two women took part in the  protest, which followed an earlier demonstration in which women  campaigners released a pink smoke flare on a hill above the  Vatican.                

Feminist groups have long demanded a greater role for women  in the Catholic Church, which only allows men to be ordained as  priests.                

The identity of the women in Tuesday's protest was not  immediately clear. Police officers on the scene declined to give  any details.                

Last month, a small group from the Ukrainian women's rights  group Femen staged a similar topless protest in Milan as former  prime minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his vote in Italy's  general election.                

(Reporting By Naomi O'Leary and Catherine Hornby; editing by  Keith Weir)

Via: HuffingtonPost