Man arrested after forcing entry into Vatican City

On Thursday, 18 May, shortly before 8 p.m., a man driving a car at high speed forced his way through the Santa Anna Gate (one of the main entrances to Vatican City) and past two security checkpoints manned by the Swiss Guards, until reaching the Damasus Courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, where he got out of the car and was apprehended by the Vatican gendarmes. According to the Holy See Press Office, the man, aged about 40, was immediately visited by the doctors of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, who found him to be in a “serious state of psychophysical alteration”. He was subsequently taken to a prison cell in the new premises of the Gendarmerie barracks, where he awaits arraignment before the Vatican’s judicial authorities.