Vatican enforces strict dress-code, no naked shoulders or knees

Rome - Travellers, tourists and local Romans who visit Vatican City are in for a surprise: Swiss Guard officers will turn away women with bare shoulders or wearing a mini skirt, or anyone wearing shorts. At the Vatican, too much skin is taboo.

It has been a longstanding dress-code for those wanting to visit St Peter's Basilica inside the Vatican City, but as of July 27, the rules regulating what is regarded as appropriate dress are being enforced throughout the tiny state inside the city of Rome. Men and women in shorts are approached by officers of the Swiss Guard, and they either must leave or visit the nearest store to buy shawls or pantaloons. Women with a dress or skirt that leaves their knees visible are banned as well. The same holds for bare shoulders; the Vatican rules regard shoulder-less tops and T-shirts as immodest, showing too much skin. The website of United Press International (UPI) quotes an outraged Italian woman as saying

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?

In her case, the guards relented and let her pass, perhaps because she was local and angry and a 70-year-old woman with a calf-length dress -- only her shoulders were bare. Most tourists seems to be simply shocked, writes the Mail Online, at what they deem to be the church's hypocrisy. The Vatican has been under fire recently, with senior figures, including Pope Benedict XVI, accused of failing to do anything against priests who sexually abused children.