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Woman jumps barriers at St Peter's Basilica and knocks down pontiffA woman vaulted a barrier inside St Peter's Basilica and knocked Pope Benedict XVI to the floor as he arrived to celebrate mass marking the beginning of Christmas.The 82-year-old pontiff was not injured and was able to deliver his Christmas Eve homily. Vatican officials said the woman appeared to be mentally unstable and was arrested by Vatican police.A spokesman said a French cardinal broke his hip when the woman the jumped barricade. The Rev Federico Lombardi said Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, a longtime Vatican diplomat, would be operated on.Lombardi identified the woman as Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems.Maiolo jumped the barricade at the start of Christmas Eve mass and lunged for the pope as he processed down the aisle. As security guards brought her down, she grabbed Benedict's vestments and pulled him down with her.In his homily, Benedict urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters.Earlier, in Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims from around the world descended on the traditional birthplace of Jesus.The Holy Land's top Roman Catholic clergyman reminded followers that peace remained elusive, and the threat of sectarian violence in the Islamic world and the lava spilling from a volcano in the Philippines clouded the celebrations for other Christian communities across the globe.Bethlehem residents hemmed in by an Israeli security barrier and still recovering from years of violence, celebrated their town's annual day in the spotlight along with pilgrims and tourists. Visitors milled around Manger Square, mingling with clergymen, camera crews and locals hawking food and trinkets.Christmas in Bethlehem has its incongruous elements – the troops of Palestinian boy scouts who wear kilts and play bagpipes in one of the town's holiday traditions, for example, or the inflatable Santa Clauses hanging from church pillars and storefronts looking out of place and overdressed in a Middle Eastern town with not a snowflake in sight.The Holy Land's top Roman Catholic cleric, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, reminded listeners in a holiday address that peace remains out of reach. "The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming. We want peace," Twal said after he passed into Bethlehem in a traditional holiday procession from nearby Jerusalem.Twal and his convoy of dozens of vehicles entered Palestinian-controlled territory through a massive steel gate in Israel's heavily guarded West Bank separation barrier, escorted by Israeli soldiers and police in jeeps.The barrier and the heavy Israeli security presence served as reminders of the friction and hostilities that have thwarted peace efforts.Only hours later, an Israeli man was shot and killed in the West Bank in an attack by Palestinian gunmen. Such attacks, once common, have become rare in recent years as the West Bank has regained a semblance of normalcy.The Israeli military identified the man as a resident of a nearby settlement, and a little-known Palestinian faction took responsibility in an e-mail sent to journalists.Some Christians in other far-flung parts of the world also saw gloom edge out the holiday cheer.Baghdad's small remaining Christian minority was to celebrate midnight mass in daylight for security reasons, and churches were under heavy guard. A bombing this week targeting a 1,200-year-old church in Mosul killed two passers-by, underscoring Iraqi Christians' concerns.Far to the east, in the shadow of the erupting Mayon volcano in the Philippines, thousands of families were spending Christmas in shelters as the volcano belched out 20 gray ash columns on Thursday, some of them 1.5km high.Government workers and volunteers tried to keep some 47,000 displaced residents entertained with games, movies and concerts, a heavy burden during the Christmas season in this majority Roman Catholic country.Pope Benedict XVICatholicismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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