Spatwatch

Vatican Dress Code Riles Tourists

Heather Horn 210 Views Jul 29, 2010
Visitors to the Vatican City State are striking back at new modesty requirements, providing juicy little quotes to The Telegraph accusing the Church of hypocrisy. Modesty requirements are nothing new for St. Peter's Basilica, but The Telegraph reports that the Pope's Swiss Guards recently started extending the rules to the entire area. Now even locals using the Vatican's "pharmacy, supermarket and post office" are apparently being "[drawn] aside" by the guards, who are taking exception to "men in shorts and women with uncovered shoulders and short skirts."

That leads to the biting little comment from "a woman in her seventies" named Maria:
Given all the scandals the Church has been involved in, what possible right can it have to be preaching about the morality of sleeveless dresses?

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at hhorn at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Topics:
Related Articles   More by Heather Horn

Op-Ed Spotlight: The Dalai Lama's Tolerance How-To

'Twas 4 Days Before Christmas...

Scientology Owns 484 Square Feet of Property for Every Member

 

Vanessa Grigoriadis: What I Read

What the World Makes of Rick Perry

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App