The new regulations, published this weekend, apply to the approximately 170 lay employees of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the department in charge of the basilica.
The Vatican has banned employees of St. Peter’s Basilica from having visible tattoos or piercings in order to preserve the “decorum”. The new regulations, published this weekend, apply to the approximately 170 lay employees of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the department in charge of the basilica.
Father Enzo Fortunato, the basilica’s communications chief, told Reuters on Monday that the regulation codified standards that “already existed in the past in a different form”. He denied, however, reports in the Italian press that unmarried lay people were also banned from working at the Fabbrica di San Pietro, calling them “gossip”.
The regulation stipulates that staff must have “exemplary religious and moral behavior, including in private and family life, in conformity with the doctrine of the Church”. The Catholic Church teaches that sexual relations between unmarried couples is a sin and that even engaged couples must observe chastity. Pope Francis has angered some conservatives by repeatedly saying the Catholic Church should focus on mercy and forgiveness rather than strict enforcement of its rules.
