The too-short cassock should have been a giveaway.A man tried to sneak into secret talks Monday that are being held by the Catholic cardinals who will select the next pope.
Wearing a makeshift bishop costume, he arrived at the Vatican with an entourage of fake clerics, even posing for photos with a real cardinal.
He then made it past at least one level of security before being stopped outside the Sistine Chapel.
The impostor was identified by Italian news agency ANSA as Ralph Napierski, a German who said he is part of a non-existent Catholic institution called Corpus Dei (a play on "Opus Dei," a real Catholic group).
His attempted infiltration prompted the Vatican to hold discussions on improving security and even sweeping the Sistine Chapel for listening devices.
Napierski was wearing a too-short cassock, a black fedora in place of a clergy's skull cap and a bright purple-pink sash that turned out to be a simple winter scarf. He was accompanied by a small entourage of fake priest assistants, according to some Italian news reports.
Napierski milled around the area outside the meetings for half an hour with no problems.
He told onlookers his name was Basilius and that he was a bishop in the Italian Orthodox Church, which does not exist.
At one point he posed for a photo with Italian Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president emeritus of the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs.
Napierski was stopped by security before he was able to enter the auditorium hosting the meetings. It is not clear what his intentions were in trying to enter the meetings.
This is not the first time bogus clergy tried to enter an important church function. Just last year, a small group of fake bishops reportedly entered the beatification mass for John Paul II.
According to Robert Mickens, a veteran correspondent for The Tablet, the U.K.-based Catholic newspaper, it's not surprising this kind of attempt happens from time to time.
"The church is very hierarchical, and so it can be quite awkward for security personnel to stop a senior cleric and ask to see his badge," Mickens said.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, would not comment on Napierski's alleged attempt to enter the congregations.
"All I can say is that everyone seated for the congregation is a real cardinal," he said.