In Good Faith: Aide to Benedict visits woman who attacked him - In Good Faith: Christianity, Judaism, Islam and World Religions

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January 3, 2010

Aide to Benedict visits woman who attacked him

Pope Benedict XVI' has sent his personal aide to visited the young woman who jumped over a barrier and knocked the pontiff down in St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve, the Associated Press reports.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says that Benedict asked the aide to pay a call on the woman, who is being treated for psychiatric problems, to "show the pope's interest and benevolence."

Lombardi declined to comment on an Italian newspaper report Sunday that the papal aide told the woman during the Dec. 26 visit that Benedict had "pardoned" her.

The Italian-Swiss woman, 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, yanked Benedict's vestments, pulling him down as he walked up the center aisle to celebrate Mass. In the commotion, an elderly French cardinal fell, breaking his hip. The pope wasn't hurt.

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About Matthew Hay Brown

Matthew Hay Brown writes and blogs about faith and values in public and private life for The Baltimore Sun. A former Washington correspondent for the newspaper, he has long written about the intersection of religion and politics. He has reported from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, traveling most recently to Syria and Jordan to write about the Iraqi refugee crisis.

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