A man pretending to be a bishop was escorted out of a Catholic cardinals meeting in Rome Monday by Swiss Guards after he tried to sneak into the closed-door gathering.

Ralph Napierski, a self-appointed bishop from what is reportedly a fictional order called Corpus Dei, was initially able to get past the Swiss Guards but was stopped before entering the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, where the cardinals were meeting, The Telegraph reported.

Napierski was dressed in fake ecclesiastical robes, including a purple sash, which turned out to be a scarf on closer inspection.

The Italian newspaper Gazzetta del Sud reported that the "bishop," whom they said was apparently Australian, was wearing a cassock that was too short, an unusual chain with a crucifix and black sneakers.

A photo taken of Napierski shows him shaking hands with Cardinal Sergio Sebiastiana, president emeritus of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See and a member of the Sovereign Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta.

According to The Telegraph, Napierski was smiling for photographers while mingling with more than 140 cardinals as they entered the hall to discuss the challenges facing the Vatican and potential candidates for the next pope.

Instead of wearing a red skull cap, a distinctive feature of elderly cardinals, Napierski is shown in the picture wearing a black fedora-style hat with a rim.

He told reporters that his name was "Basilius" and that he was a member of the "Italian Orthodox Church," which does not exist, Agence France-Presse reported.

Before being discovered as an imposter, he told reporters that Catholic bishops had "made a mistake by moving priests" accused of child abuse to different parishes.