Vatican security rattled by unruly crowd at papal audience
June 26, 2025
Vatican security officials may be forced to reevaluate their plans after an unruly crowd at a June 26 papal audience threatened to topple a security barrier, and Pope Leo XIV was hit on the head by a soft object tossed to him from the throng.
The crowd at the Vatican for the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (see today’s separate headline story) was unusually noisy and energetic, and at one point security officials rushed to prevent the group from knocking over a crowd-control barrier as the Pontiff approached. At the same time, someone in the crowd tossed what appeared to be a stuffed animal toward the Pope, and he—distracted by the scuffle—was hit before he could react.
The Pope was unharmed and apparently unconcerned by the incident, but security officials have been troubled by the number of objects—to date, all of them harmless—thrown toward the Pope during his public appearances.
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