Pope Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY A Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict XVI’s personal aide has visited the young woman who jumped over a barrier and knocked the pontiff down in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.The Rev. Federico Lombardi says that Benedict asked the aide to pay a call on the woman, who is being treated for psychiatric problems, to “show the pope’s interest and benevolence.”
Lombardi declined to comment on an Italian newspaper report Sunday that the papal aide told the woman during the Dec. 26 visit that Benedict had “pardoned” her.The Italian-Swiss woman, 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, yanked Benedict’s vestments, pulling him down as he walked up the center aisle to celebrate Mass. In the commotion, an elderly French cardinal fell, breaking his hip. The pope wasn’t hurt. (AP)
Santosamaru 