St Peter’s Basilica to boost security

VATICAN CITY:

The Vatican is stepping up security inside St Peter’s Basilica after recent acts of vandalism, but wants to avoid the “militarisation” of one of the most visited churches in the world, a senior clergyman said on Monday.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti said more than 20 million people had passed through the Basilica over the past year and that recent incidents were “very limited” compared with the overall volume of visitors.

“We are thinking, and now we will do something, for further protection of some spaces,” Gambetti told a press conference about the forthcoming 400th anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral, one of the largest in Christendom.

Visitors are currently screened before entering, while 40 to 60 people provide discreet security inside. Gambetti indicated that the new measures would be low-key.

“We asked ourselves about the limit which we should go in protection, or in militarisation ... to manage everything, control everything,” he said. “We think it should remain a place that leaves people who enter the Basilica with a taste of freedom, so you can’t go beyond certain limits.”