Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general of the pope for Vatican City, led a penitential rite of reparation on Oct. 13 at the basilica’s main altar following a serious act of desecration three days earlier.
The ceremony began with a penitential procession at 12:45 p.m., during which Cardinal Gambetti sprinkled holy water and incensed the Altar of the Confession as a sign of purification. Members of the basilica’s chapter were present, joining in prayers for forgiveness and restoration of the altar’s sanctity, according to Father Enzo Fortunato, director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica.
The act of reparation followed a shocking incident on Oct. 10, when an unidentified man was arrested after climbing onto the altar beneath Bernini’s baldachin and urinating on it in full view of tourists.
Pope Leo XIV expressed deep sorrow over the desecration and instructed Cardinal Gambetti to perform the rite to seek forgiveness and renew the sacredness of the site.
This marks the second desecration at St. Peter’s in less than a year — previous incidents included the vandalism of altar fixtures in February and a protest in June 2023, when a man stripped naked on the same spot to denounce the war in Ukraine.
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