Pope Benedict XVI Attacked at Christmas Eve Mass

[Sam.]

A woman jumped the barriers in St Peter's Basilica in Rome last night and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass.



Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red hooded jumper vaulting the wooden barriers and rushing towards the Pope before being swamped by bodyguards. The 82-year-old pontiff quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Ciro Benedettini.



The woman grabbed the pontiff's gold and white vestments as she was tackled by a security guard and both she and the pope then fell to the marble floor.



The commotion occurred as the Pope's procession was making its way toward the main altar and gasps rang out through the faithful in the basilica. Confusion reigned as security guards rushed down the aisle to assist the Pope.



Reverend Benedettini said the woman who pushed the Pope appeared to be mentally unstable and had been arrested by Vatican police. He said she also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who was taken to hospital in a wheelchair. He suffered a broken leg.

Full Story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6967697.ece



That's awful - you would think that the security would be a bit tighter as to not let a woman actually knock the Pope over. Good on him for delivering the mass afterwards, though.



Thoughts?

 

[Raven]

My dad told me about this. I laughed.

 

[Sam.]

Why is that...?



In my opinion, it's not a laughing matter.

 

[Alien]

I think it's pretty disgusting to knock over a man of his age, whoever he is.

 

[Raven]

Why is that...?



In my opinion, it's not a laughing matter.

Just considering the day it is.. which is all a lie anyway and Jesus wasnt born on the 25th of December. and the fact i'm anti-christian. I just found it funny.

 

[Bluezone777]

Imagine if this character had a knife or some other weapon and did this... we probably be talking about serious injuries or even death. They really messed up here and heads are probably going to roll over the clear lapse in security as this character shoudl not have been able to get that close to the pope before security took her down.

 

[Evil Eye]

Maybe... it was a test then?



The amount of unstable people seems to be rising though...

 

[Mr. Perfect]

Haha! I don't mean to laugh but the image in my head is too great!



I have Catholic friends and they were laughing at this lol....HE'S OLD!



The lady is really crazy! At least the Pope isn't hurt!!!!

 

[Raven]

^ Glad i'm not the only one who found the funny side of it

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I dont think its funny for an elderly man to get attacked.

 

[Skillet]

I foresee Family Guy taking this too far in the near future.. Surprising that someone can manage to get by security..

 

[Raven]

theres even a facebook page about

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Pope-Tackling/218477347630?ref=pymk

 

[Skillet]

Oh wow..

 

[hotspot]

i wonder why she did it? maybe she did it for gay people or something

 

[Mr. Perfect]

Of course the fact of the matter isn't funny but if you like me who find the positive in everything and has that third eye for comedy your gonna laugh, because while your reading the story you got a really weird and funny image in your head so yes its okay to laugh at the image not the fact. HE IS STILL OLD!

 

[Bluezone777]

I foresee Family Guy taking this too far in the near future.. Surprising that someone can manage to get by security..

I am not all that surprised since two people who weren't invited to a party were let in and was able to shake the hand of President Obama and VP Biden even with all of the security in place.