ROME — Rome police arrested a 69-year-old American man dressed as the pope as he tried to enter the Vatican Monday.

Police stopped the man — who was robed in a white cassock, along with a white skullcap and crucifix around his neck — and asked him for identification as he attempted to pass a checkpoint into Saint Peter’s Square. The man responded that he was “the pope” but refused to produce any documentation.

As the man proceeded to physically assault the officers, they then subdued and arrested him on charges of resistance to public officials.

It is not known at this point what the man was intending on doing in his papal guise had he not been apprehended by security forces.

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