Woman Topples Pope at Mass, but He Isn’t Hurt

Woman Topples Pope at Mass, but He Isn’t Hurt
By RACHEL DONADIO
Copyright by Reuters
Published: December 24, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/world/europe/25pope.html?ref=global-home


ROME — Pope Benedict XVI delivered his traditional Christmas blessing on Friday after an “unbalanced woman” jumped the barriers in St. Peter’s Basilica and knocked him down as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass on Thursday.

The pope quickly got back on his feet after the incident and celebrated Mass before thousands of the faithful, urging them in his homily to become “truly vigilant people.” Television images showed a woman in red leap toward Benedict, 82, as he began to walk up the central aisle, as the police and bodyguards scrambled to his aid.

The woman also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.

Cardinal Etchegaray, 87, fractured his hip and will be operated on at Gemelli hospital in Rome, Father Lombardi said Friday, according to The Associated Press.

Father Lombardi identified the woman as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems, The Associated Press reported. He said Ms. Maiolo, who was not armed, was taken to a clinic for necessary treatment. She was the same woman involved in a similar incident at last year’s Midnight Mass, Vatican officials said.

The incident in St. Peter’s was the second high-profile security breach in Italy this month.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent several days in the hospital after a man with mental problems struck him in the face with a statuette of the Milan cathedral, breaking his nose and two teeth, at a campaign rally in Milan.

During Christmas Eve Mass, the pope appeared tired at times but celebrated the ritual without further incident.

For the first time in recent memory, however, Christmas Eve Mass began at 10 p.m. instead of midnight, in what Father Lombardi said was an effort to help Benedict preserve his strength for his intense schedule over the Christmas season.

Benedict is said to be in generally good health, but last summer he broke his wrist in a fall at the house in northern Italy where he was spending his summer vacation.