A priest armed with several weapons and dressed in a cassock tried to enter St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to participate in the Regina Caeli prayer with Pope Francis on Sunday, May 5.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the priest, who is from the Czech Republic, tried to pass through the metal detector carrying an air pistol, two knives, a cutter, and a screwdriver.
After being arrested, the priest was reported to the authorities for illegal possession of weapons. When questioned, the priest said he carried the weapons for personal defense.
According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the priest is 59-year-old Father Milan Palkovic.
According to Europa Press, the weapons were in a bag that belonged to another man, a 60-year-old Czech who accompanied the priest and who was also detained.
Neither has a criminal record and both came to Rome on a pilgrimage from the Czech Republic.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
Walter Sanchez Silva is a senior writer for ACI Prensa. He has experience in researching and covering international ecclesiastical events such as World Youth Days (WYD) in Cologne 2005, Madrid 2011, and Rio 2013; the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Council in Aparecida; as well as the trips of Pope Benedict XVI in May 2007 to Brazil and in 2012 to Mexico. He covered Pope Francis' trip to South Korea in 2014 and the Synods of Bishops in the Vatican in 2015 (on the family) and 2019 (on the Amazon). He was also sent to cover the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and served as a field producer in Buenos Aires in 2013 for the documentary "Pope Francis: The Pope of the New World".
