Ray Napierski, the guy in the fedora, is posing as a Roman Catholic bishop. The purple sash is actually a scarf, and his cossack was about a foot too short. Yet, somehow, he made is through at least one security check.
Here, Napierski greets Cardinal Sebastiana during the run-up to the conclave. Napierski says he is a member of the Italian Orthodox Church and part of an organization he calls Corpus Dei.
The Swiss Guards should be more thorough in checking who's who especially when there is a large gathering in the Vatican. This is a prank that could have gone wrong in epic proportions. Napierski, in this photo, already seems out of place and according to the report in the Huffington post, that it was the length of his cassock that gave him away.
Posted by: tutorsville | March 14, 2013 at 12:10 AM
Yes, I was surprised at the lax security, and the lameness of this attempt.
Posted by: John Petty | March 15, 2013 at 11:39 AM