A man urinated on a Vatican altar during a holy mass as hundreds of tourists looked on in disgust at the act of desecration Friday, according to local reports.
The man climbed the altar and "urinated under the stunned gaze of hundreds of tourists," according to the newspaper Corriere della Sera's Rome edition. Video of the desecration was widely shared on social media.
Il Tempo reported that the man "was promptly reached by plainclothes police officers present in the basilica" and was escorted out of the church.
The latter newspaper claimed Pope Leo XIV was "shocked to learn of the news," though the Holy See Press Office had not released a statement about the incident as of Oct. 11.