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Pope attack: Woman allegedly made similar attempt last year
by Natalie James - December 25, 2009 - comments
The identity of the women is not yet revealed, but the Vatican confirmed she was the same person who had made a similar bid to jump a barricade to get close to the Pope at the same service last year
Vatican City, December 25:Pope Benedict XVI was slipped and fell after apparently an “unbalanced” woman jumped over a barricade in St Peter's Basilica at the start of Christmas Eve mass on Thursday. Fortunately, the pope isn’t hurt.
The mentally unstable woman knocked over the pope as he walked down the aisle of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to celebrate Midnight Mass, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday.
Pope attacked
The 82-year-old Pope fell to the ground, but got back on his feet quickly and then began the service, said the spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
The Vatican police arrested the woman who appeared to be "unstable," Lombardi said.
Amateur footage obtained by The Associated Press shows the woman, in a red hooded sweat shirt and dark trousers, leaping a wooden barricade and rushing at the Pope in St Peters Basilica. She tried to touch the Pope before being swarmed by Vatican security guards.
The woman also knocked over Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who was taken to hospital for a check-up.
Crazy worshipper tried to touch the Pope
It has been reported that the Pope and the elderly cardinal fell to the marble floor of the basilica in the confusion as security men tried to prevent the woman from touching him.
The pope was helped back to his feet and, appeared to be unhurt, walked up the main aisle of the basilica and continued the service. He later read his homily and appeared not to be affected by the incident.
"During the procession an unstable person jumped a barrier and knocked down the Holy Father," Benedettini told The Associated Press by telephone. "(The pope) quickly got up and continued the procession."
"All of a sudden this person sort of flew over the barricade and the Holy Father went down and all of a sudden all the security people were all on top of it, you know the whole pile there, getting her off and pulling him back up," AP news agency quoted eyewitness MaryBeth Burns, a US tourist, as saying.
Woman had done it before
The identity of the women is not yet revealed, but the Vatican confirmed she was the same person who had made a similar bid to jump a barricade to get close to the Pope at the same service last year.
Sky News Australia quoted Fox News reporter Greg Burke as saying that sources are saying “it is the same woman who last year tried to do it and was quickly taken away by security".