Pope John Paul II lookalike arrested

A man dressing up as Pope John Paul II for tourists in Rome has been arrested and fined.

The Telegraph reports that the unnamed man, from Slovakia, had taken up a spot on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, which leads up to the Colosseum, and was posing for photographs dressed in a white cassock, with crucifix and skull cap.

"John Paul was a great Pope. Lots of people ask to have their photograph taken with me," he said.

But police put a stop to that on Friday when they detained him, apparently after an anonymous complaint, and told him he would be fined between 154 and 929 euros for 'usurpation of title'.

He also had his white cassock confiscated. The exact fine is to be decided by a court.

"The problem was that he looked a lot like Karol Wojtyla. He was detained for usurpation of title which is a misdemeanour," a police spokeswoman told AFP.

News
Fire severely damages historic Amsterdam church on New Year’s Day
Fire severely damages historic Amsterdam church on New Year’s Day

A major fire tore through one of Amsterdam’s best-known historic buildings in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seriously damaging the property and forcing people to leave nearby homes.

Rwanda’s president on the defensive over church closures
Rwanda’s president on the defensive over church closures

Rwandan President Paul Kagame defended the government's forced closure of Evangelical churches, accusing them of being a “den of bandits” led by deceptive relics of colonialism. 

We are the story still being written
We are the story still being written

The story of Christ continues in the lives of those who take up His calling.

Christians harassed, attacked all over India at Christmas
Christians harassed, attacked all over India at Christmas

International Christian Concern reported more than 80 incidents in India, some of them violent, over Christmas.