Woman knocks Pope down at Christmas Mass
A woman jumped the barriers and knocked the Pope down
(BBC)A shaken Pope Benedict has said Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's shortly after being knocked over by a spectator who jumped a barrier.
The woman, said to be mentally unstable, managed to grab him by his vestments near the neck area as a security guard tried to overwhelm her.
The Vatican said she had also tried to jump at the Pope last year.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, was standing a few metres away and fell and broke his leg during the incident.
Proceeding with the Mass, Benedict looked shaken and stumbled over some words.
 |  All of a sudden this person sort of flew over the barricade  MaryBeth Burns eyewitness |
The service in the Vatican started two hours early because officials did not want the pontiff, 82, to get tired.
As members of the 1.1-billion Catholic community celebrated Christmas around the world, thousands of pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem where Latin Patriarch Foud Twal, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, said the region's aspiration of peace remained out of reach.
"The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming," he said after passing into Bethlehem in a traditional holiday procession from nearby Jerusalem.
"We want peace."
Repeat incident
The incident involving the Pope lasted only a few seconds and was caught on camera by at least one eyewitness.
| ANALYSIS  David Willey, BBC News, Rome The Pope will next year celebrate his 83rd birthday. He is in relatively good health for his age but he was clearly shaken by the incident and stumbled several times over words in his homily. This was undoubtedly the most serious breach of security inside the Vatican in recent years. Although the Pope was physically unharmed by this sudden attack, security arrangements at papal ceremonies will have to be urgently reviewed as there was apparently a similar, but unsuccessful, attempt to hurt the Pope last Christmas. |
Dressed in a red hooded sweatshirt, the attacker leaped over the barrier towards the Pope, prompting gasps from the crowd.
"All of a sudden this person sort of flew over the barricade and the Holy Father went down and all of a sudden all the security people were all on top of it, you know the whole pile there, getting her off and pulling him back up," eyewitness MaryBeth Burns, a US tourist, told the Associated Press.
Security officials rushed down the main aisle to detain the woman, who was later arrested by police.
Her name was not immediately known but the Vatican confirmed she was the same person who had tried to jump a barricade to get close to the Pope at the same service last year.
The Pope had to be helped up by the master of ceremonies at his side, the BBC's David Willey in Rome says.
The theme of his homily was selfishness which, he said, "makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires".
The Vatican said earlier that the decision to move the midnight Mass to 2200 (2100 GMT) was "to make Christmas a little less tiring for the Pope, who has many engagements".
The pontiff earlier appeared briefly at nightfall at the window of his studio to light a candle in a sign of peace.
Tourism boom
In Bethlehem, festivities began with a traditional boy scout band and ended with midnight Mass in St Catherine's Church, next to the Church of the Nativity.
Patriarch arrives in Bethlehem
Arriving in Bethlehem, the Latin Patriarch said people in the region wanted freedom of movement.
"We don't want walls, we don't want separation fences."
Addressing worshippers, he added: "[This land's] inhabitants are brothers who see each other as enemies.
"This land will deserve to be called holy when she breathes freedom, justice, love, reconciliation, peace and security."
The Mass was said next to the church built over the stall where Mary is believed to have given birth to Jesus.
Some 300 Christians over the age of 35 from the Gaza Strip were given permission by the Israeli military to leave the territory and come to Bethlehem for 24 hours to celebrate Christmas.
A total of 15,000 tourists are expected in the town during this period, in a year that has seen a record number of visitors - some 1.6 million.
Woman knocks down pope at Mass; Christmas celebrations begin
- Woman tried to reach pope at start of midnight Mass
- Christmas midnight Mass held at 10 p.m.; some say because of health concerns for pope
- Celebrants in Bethlehem joined the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal for a midnight Mass
- Outside Church of the Nativity, faithful gathered along with heavily armed Palestinian police
(CNN) -- A woman jumped a barrier at the start of Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down the pope, briefly disrupting ceremonies.
Screams erupted from onlooking worshippers when the woman ran toward Pope Benedict XVI and grabbed onto his vestments as he walked down the main aisle of the church, video footage showed.
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.
The woman was removed by Vatican guards, Lombardi said.
John Allen, senior Vatican analyst for CNN, said such security breaches aren't uncommon.
"As compared to say, the president of the United States, the security membrane around the pope is pretty thin and fairly permeable," he said, citing similar past incidents, including one that happened last Christmas Eve.
Video: Disruption at Vatican Mass 
Video: Christmas Mass at the Vatican 
Video: Christmas Mass in Bethlehem 
Gallery: Christmas Eve around the world Allen said that generally, these disruptions are caused by people who aren't seeking real harm, but who want to be close to the pope.
Benedict began what has traditionally been a midnight Mass at the Vatican at 10 p.m. as officials sought to keep the 82-year-old pontiff from a late night.
Celebrants in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the West Bank, however, joined the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal for a midnight Mass attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials.
Outside the Church of the Nativity, erected over the site Christian tradition says was the place of Jesus' birth, the faithful gathered under the watchful eyes of heavily armed Palestinian police.
But Palestinian shopkeeper Nadia Hazboun said the security situation in the West Bank has improved in the time since the militant Hamas group took over Gaza and Abbas' Fatah movement abandoned the narrow strip of land between Israel and the Mediterranean for the West Bank.
"It was bad, now it is good," he told Voice of America radio. "I told you, before anybody take the law in his [own] hands. But now the law [is] with the police. We have security, we have calm, we have now the best situation in Bethlehem."Were you there? Share pictures, video
Christmas Eve in Bethlehem is a popular destination for American Christians, including Iowan Paul Edelman.
"Just the festivities, the idea that this is the birthplace of Christ, and you get to see all the historic places and share it with people from around the world; it's a very nice experience," he told Voice of America radio.
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