VATICAN CITY -- Vatican police 'collared' Father Guido Sarducci of NBC TV's Saturday Night Live for impersonating a priest and entering the Vatican without authorization, friends said Friday.
Don Novello, who portrayed the irreverent gossip columnist for the Vatican daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano on Saturday Night Live, reportedly was detained Thursday for seven hours along with his wife Kathy, photographer Paul Solomon and Rome journalist Paul Bompard.
In New York, the editor of the Italian-American magazine Attenzione said that Novello was researching a story on 'Guido Sarducci's Rome.'
The four were arrested shortly after they had entered the Vatican walls, Bompard told reporters. He said the group had not obtained permission to enter the Vatican.
Bompard said Novello, who was wearing pink sunglasses and cowboy boots as well as a priest's collar, wanted his picture taken in front of the offices of L'Osservatore Romano.
He said they drove up to the gates to Vatican City and the Swiss guard on duty waved them in when they saw Novello was dressed as a priest.
Security guards surrounded them as they were snapping pictures, Bompard said.
'Are you a priest?' the guards asked Novello. When he answered no, they told him to 'take the collar off immediately', he said.
Bompard said they were taken to the Vatican police station and then turned over to Italian police. They were not charged and released after seven hours, he said.
Bompard said Novello's priestly garb is actually a woman's black velvet cape with red satin lining and sequined buttons that Novello bought eight years ago in a used clothing store.
