Woman attacked the Pope on Christmas eve

The Pope was walking down the aisle to celebrate the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. Suddenly, a woman jumped over the barrier and attacked the Pope.

The woman ran towards Pope Benedict XVI and grabbed onto his vestments as screams erupted from onlooking worshippers who were surprised by the event.

Fortunately, his aides were quick and helped the Pope to his feet. The woman was removed by the Vatican guards and the service was resumed, where Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Christmas message of hope… in spite of the attack that happened on him.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi identified the woman as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national who said to have psychiatric problems. She was not armed, however. She was taken to a clinic for necessary treatment.

Maiolo actually made the same attempt last year, but she wasn’t able to reach to the Pope as she was stopped by a security guard.

Although a bit shaken as he approached his chair, the Pope has nonetheless unhurt in the fall and was able to continue with his Christmas eve mass celebration. But French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, an 87-year old Vatican diplomat, fractured his hip in the commotion and will be operated at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, Lombardi said.

At the hospital, where she was admitted after the attack, reporters quoted Maiolo as saying that “she did not want to hurt the Pope.”

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa and head of the Italian bishop’s conference, said “Nothing serious happened. It was a woman who tried to greet the holy father.”