A special cleansing ritual took place on Saturday at the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica after a man protested naked on the altar against the war in Ukraine two days ago, News.ro reported with reference to Reuters.

The cleaning service was led by the archbishop of the basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti.

On Thursday, when the basilica was closing, the Pole undressed and climbed onto the altar. On his back was the inscription: “Save the children of Ukraine”.

The Vatican guards handed the man over to the Italian police, who detained him and decided to expel him from Italy.

During Saturday’s service, where the altar used by Pope Francis was blessed with holy water, Gambetti said the man had made a sinful and inappropriate gesture, “really regrettable,” to draw attention to the victims of war.

As reported by a source in the Vatican, during the incident, the man had self-inflicted nails on his body.