Cardinal Broke His Leg as Woman Grabs Pope

Cardinal suffers broken leg as woman grabs pope, via CNN

The woman who dragged the pope down Thursday night during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica is the same woman who tried to attack the pope at the same function last year, the Vatican said.

The woman, described by a Vatican spokesman as “mentally disturbed” jumped a barrier at the start of the event and toppled Pope Benedict XVI and also broke the leg of a cardinal as onlookers gasped.

Screams erupted from worshippers when the woman ran toward Pope Benedict XVI and grabbed onto his vestments as he walked down the main aisle of the Rome church, video footage showed.

Someone tried to intercept the woman but she was still able to grab the pope and pull him to the ground with her.

He was quickly helped to his feet by his aides — prompting cheers from the crowd — and the service was resumed, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told CNN.

Tags: vatican

This entry was posted on December 25, 2009 at December 25, 2009 and is filed under Asides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.