Pope Benedict pays a hospital visit to Cardinal Etchegaray

Pope Benedict XVI paid a call Saturday on 87-year-old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, hospitalized with a broken hip from the Christmas Eve Mass papal knock-down. The Associated Press reports:

Benedict embraced 87-year-old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who wore a gray dressing gown during the early evening visit by the pontiff at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic.

The Vatican said the pope and Etchegaray chatted cordially in French during the 30-minute visit, which hadn't been announced in advance.

"The pope expressed his interest and spiritual closeness" to Etchegaray, whose recovery was going well following surgery shortly after the injury, the Vatican said.

(HT: The Benedict Forum).

01-15-10: Update! - Zenit reports that Cardinal Roger Etchegaray has been discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital.

Pope Benedict XVI forgives his attacker - sends rosary in return!

Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary has visited the mentally disturbed woman who assaulted the pontiff at Mass on Christmas Eve (BBC News, January 3, 2010):

Monsignor Gaenswein made the visit to convey Pope Benedict's concern for the woman's situation, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press news agency.

He saw Ms Maiolo at a hostel for people with psychiatric problems in the town of Subiaco.

According to Il Giornale, the papal aide brought her a rosary and told her the Pope believed in her good intentions and had pardoned her.

The paper added that an elderly French cardinal, Roger Etchegaray, who suffered a broken hip during the incident in St Peter's, had also passed on his forgiveness.

(HT: Carlos Echevarria).

Pope knocked down as he enters Christmas Eve Mass; Pope forgives!

A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass (Associated Press):

The 82-year-old pope quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini. Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red jumper vaulting over the wooden barriers and rushing the pope before being swarmed by bodyguards.

The commotion occurred as the pope's procession was making its way toward the main altar and shocked gasps rang out through the public that packed the basilica. The procession came to a halt and security rushed to the trouble spot.

Benedettini said the woman who pushed the pope appeared to be mentally unstable and had been arrested by Vatican police. He said she also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was taken to hospital for a check up.

"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."

Raw video of the incident. (The Holy Father appears to be ok). More here:

Update!

• According to the New York Times, The woman who leapt at Pope Benedict XVI during Christmas Eve Mass, causing him to trip and fall, had tried the same thing last year, only to be stopped by security.
• The woman who knocked down Pope Benedict XVI has been hospitalized, the Vatican said on Friday. (AFP)
• Protecting the Pope: Keeping Him Safe But Open, by Jeff Israely. Time December 26, 2009.
• Vatican mulls options over woman who lunged at pope Reuters. Decembet 26, 2009.
• Pope Benedict forgives Susanna Maiolo one day after she knocked him down during Christmas Eve Mass December 26, 2009.