Rhode Island Man Arrested for Disrupting Pope Mass
NEW YORK (AP) -- A 41-year-old man from Warwick, R.I., was taken into police custody Monday after he began yelling during a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, police said. Police said the man, whose name was not released, was taken to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. No one was injured.
Congregants were startled when the man began yelling toward the end of the Mass, according to Detective Kevin Czartoryski, a police department spokesman. Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said he was at the Mass in an area behind the altar and heard the disturbance but could not tell what the man had yelled. "It was over so quickly I couldn't tell what he was doing," Zwilling said.
Since Saturday, when Pope John Paul II died at age 84, Catholics have gathered at the cathedral to mourn for the late pontiff. Zwilling said the Monday evening Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Edward Egan, was full, with every seat taken and people standing in the aisles and at the back of the cathedral.
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