Italian police, protesters clash in St Peter’s Square

VATICAN CITY— Protesters unhappy about the Vatican’s wealth clashed with police in St. Peter’s Square, with one of the demonstrators scaling the towering Christmas tree.

International Indignados movement demonstrators clash with Italian police officers as they try to move out of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2012. ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP PHOTO

A few dozen “indignados” protesters, from Spain, France and Italy, tried to pitch two small tents in the square and shouted slogans Saturday afternoon. After police detained three protesters, including the tree-climber, to identify them in a space behind the square’s giant Nativity scene, a clash erupted, with officers swinging clubs and dragging away some demonstrators.

Vatican spokesmen were not immediately available for comment. The “indignados” movement decries the concentration of much wealth in the hands of relatively few. The Italian news agency ANSA said one protester had a bloody nose.