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Pope's Christmas Eve mass marred by fall
An "apparently unbalanced" woman approached Pope Benedict XVI and caused him to fall as he entered St Peter's Basilica to celebrate Christmas Eve mass. The pilgrim got past a security barricade by the central aisle of the vast basilica as the pope began leading the traditional procession to the altar last night. Pope recovers
An "apparently unbalanced" woman approached Pope Benedict XVI and caused him to fall as he entered St Peter's Basilica to celebrate Christmas Eve mass, the Vatican spokesman said.
The pilgrim got past a security barricade by the central aisle of the vast basilica as the pope began leading the traditional procession to the altar last night, Father Federico Lombardi told AFP.
The woman is in the custody of the Vatican police, the ANSA news agency reported, adding she apparently meant no harm
The 82-year-old pontiff quickly recovered and went on to conduct the mass without assistance, but the incident marred the pontiff's fifth celebration of the event commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray fell ill in the crush and was given first aid, Lombardi said.
Benedict, in gold and white vestments and mitre, showed no discomfort as he read out his Christmas Eve homily, decrying selfishness, which he said "makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires that stand against the truth and separate us from one another.
"Conflict and lack of reconciliation in the world stem from the fact that we are locked into our own interests and opinions, into our own little private world," the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics said in Italian.
