Fake bishop tries to sneak into Vatican meeting

VATICAN CITY - Agence France-Presse

A balck cat walks past a priest during cardinals talks ahead of a conclave to elect a new pope on March 4, 2013 at the Vatican. AFP photo

An Italian man dressed up in fake ecclesiastical robes was escorted out of a meeting of Catholic cardinals by Swiss Guards on Monday after trying to sneak into the closed-door Vatican meeting.

The man had told reporters that his name was "Basilius" and that he was a member of the "Italian Orthodox Church", which does not exist.

Before he was discovered, the "bishop" told reporters that Catholic bishops had "made a mistake by moving priests" who were accused of paedophilia around different parishes.

He was wearing a purple scarf around his waist that was similar to the sashes warn by senior Catholic prelates and he shook hands and chatted with priests and cardinals arriving at the meeting.

Pre-conclave talks start in Vatican

VATICAN CITY - The Associated Press

Cardinals from around the world gathered inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI’s decision to retire. The Vatican said 103 of the 115 electors had arrived, while the other dozen are en route.

The core agenda item is to set the date for the conclave and set in place procedures to prepare for it, including closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors and getting the Vatican hotel cleared out and de-bugged, lest anyone try to listen in on the secret conversations of the cardinals.