“The problem was that he looked a lot like Karol Wojtyla. He was detained for usurpation of title which is a misdemeanour,” a police spokeswoman told AFP.

“The cassock he was wearing has been confiscated,” she said, adding that the action had been taken after an anonymous complaint.

The Slovak was one of several buskers and street artists who try their luck along the street, from bands of Peruvian pipers to fake centurions and legionaries, and performers who stand stock still dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

“If he had been dressed like Tutankhamen nothing would have happened,” another police officer said.