Pope’s aide visits woman

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 to the woman, who is being treated for psychiatric problems, to “show the Pope’s interest and benevolence”.

Susanna Maiolo, aged 25, yanked Benedict’s vestments, pulling him down.