papal vestments has been detained and
fined by the police in Rome for bearing too
close a resemblance to the late John Paul II,
the police said on Friday.
"The problem was that he looked a lot like Karol
Wojtyla. He was detained for usurpation of title
which is a misdemeanour," a police spokeswoman
said..
"The cassock he was wearing has been
confiscated," she added.
The man has been released and will have to pay
between 154 and 929 euros ($200 and $1,200),
depending on a decision by a judge, the
spokeswoman said.
Another officer at the station where the 55-year-old
man was taken quipped: "If he had been dressed
like Tutankhamun nothing would have happened."
The performer has been working the main avenue
leading up to the Colosseum in his white skullcap
for weeks - alongside Roman centurion imitators
and other performers - but police said they acted
following an anonymous complaint.
A vendor selling miniature Colosseum souvenirs on
a spot overlooking the Roman Forum said he saw
the man being detained on Thursday.
"He was right here, near me. He was taken away
by two officers in civilian clothes who were
pretending to be tourists," he said.
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