‘Imprudent’ Italian priest being probed for using inflatable mattress as altar at sea

Priest conducted service in swimsuit, prompting heavy backlash

A priest has been placed under investigation for “imprudently” using an inflatable mattress as an altar while conducting mass in the sea in southern Italy.

Father Mattia Bernasconi, 36, a priest with the archdiocese of Milan, was caught on camera holding mass in the water while wearing only swimming trunks.

Mr Bernasconi said that he had been helping with a week-long summer camp for high school students and had planned to hold Sunday’s ceremony among the trees by the beach in Crotone. The camp was reportedly organised for the students by Libera, an anti-mafia organisation.

However, after failing to find shade amid the scorching heat, the priest said a family offered him the inflatable mattress, which he took to the water. He then conducted the mass with everyone in their swimsuits.

“It was an emergency situation, we couldn’t find another place to celebrate,” Mr Bernasconi told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

He added that the service was only meant to “represent a thank you to the land that had hosted” them and did not intend to “offend someone’s sensibility”.

The mass caught the attention of beachgoers and some of them joined the school students.

But the priest faced heavy backlash after images and videos of the mass went viral on social media.

“We were supposed to be a small group, but many people joined the liturgy. Someone took pictures that started to circulate on the web: I’m sorry that someone felt offended,” he said, adding that he would avoid conducting a mass in a similar way.

The archdiocese of Crotone-Santa Severina said in a statement that it is possible to celebrate Mass outside of a church in some special cases, during retreats, school camps, or in vacation spots.

“But it is always necessary to make contact with the ecclesial leaders where one is, in order to advise each other on the most appropriate way to carry out such a eucharistic celebration.”

Responding to the archdiocese’s call for maintaining “liturgical decorum and respect”, Mr Bernasconi said: “I blame myself for being perhaps a little naive.”

Giuseppe Capoccia, the chief prosecutor of the city of Crotone, said that the priest has been put under investigation for an “offence to a religious confession”.