pope cannot be risk-free, says Vatican

The Vatican will review its security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years.

However, the Vatican's top spokesman warned that it was impossible to guarantee 100% security around the pontiff.

This time the woman managed to knock the Pope down before being pulled away by guards.

Benedict, 82, was not hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St Peter's Square.

Unsteady at first, he also delivered a short speech about the world's troublespots.

The incident in St Peter's Basilica raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a failed bid to get to the Pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweatshirt.

Italian officials also remarked on the odd similarity of the breach to an assault two weeks ago on Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi by a man with a history of psychological problems. The attack in Milan broke the prime minister's nose and two teeth.

The Vatican identified the woman involved in Thursday night's incident as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems who was immediately taken to a clinic for treatment.

Interior ministry officials said she lived in Switzerland and ANSA news agency said she had travelled to Rome specifically for the Mass, as she did last year.

In the 2008 case, Maiolo never managed to reach the Pope and was quietly tackled by security, but during Thursday night's service, she launched herself over the barricade as Benedict walked down the aisle at the start of the Christmas Eve service.

As security guards wrestled her to the ground, she grabbed on to Benedict's vestments, bringing him down with her.

Virtually anyone can get into a papal Mass. Tickets are required but are easy to get if requested in advance. Identification cards are not necessary to gain entrance, although visitors must pass through a metal detector.

Vatican press chief the Rev Federico Lombardi said it was unrealistic to think the Vatican could ensure 100% security for the Pope, considering he was regularly surrounded by tens of thousands of people for his weekly audiences, Masses, papal greetings and other events.

"It seems that they intervened at the earliest possible moment in a situation in which 'zero risk' cannot be achieved," he said yesterday.

The Vatican's security officials would, nonetheless, review the episode and "try to learn from experience", he said.

It was the first time a potential attacker had come into direct contact with Benedict during his nearly five-year papacy.

Security analysts have frequently warned the Pope is too exposed in his public appearances, but Mr Lombardi said that was a necessary part of the job.

"People want to see him up close and he's pleased to see them closely too," he said. "A zero risk doesn't seem realistic in a situation in which there's a direct rapport with the people."

Benedict was unhurt in the fall, but retired Vatican diplomat French cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, fell and fractured his hip in the commotion and faces surgery at Rome's Gemelli hospital.

Cardinal Etchegaray, emeritus archbishop of Marseille who headed the Vatican's justice and peace and charity offices before retiring, was seen leaving the basilica in a wheelchair after the fall.

Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno remarked on the "strange" coincidence in the recent security breaches, saying: "We need in some way to be more vigilant over all, because in an open and globalised world, the number of unbalanced people and their aggressiveness can increase."

Because the incident occurred on Vatican territory, it is up to Vatican judicial authorities to decide whether and how to proceed with any possible charges against Maiolo.

Mr Lombardi said he did not know how the matter would be handled but noted that the Vatican justice system was usually "very benevolent".

There have been other security breaches at the Vatican.

In 2007, during an open-air audience in St Peter's Square, a mentally unstable German man jumped a barrier and grabbed the back of the Pope's open car before being swarmed by security guards.

Then there was the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. John Paul suffered a severe abdominal wound as he rode in an open vehicle at the start of his weekly audience in the Vatican piazza.

The Pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.

When he moves around St Peter's Square during his weekly Wednesday audience, he does so in an uncovered white Jeep; when he travels overseas or outside the Vatican, he usually uses one with bulletproof glass.