Sunday, January 10, 2010

Holy Father visit injured Cardinal

Pope Benedict visited Cardinal Etchegaray at the Gemelli Hospital yesterday. The following comes from TVNZ:

Pope Benedict paid a surprise hospital visit to a cardinal who was injured when a mentally unstable woman lunged at the pontiff on Christmas Eve in St Peter's Basilica.

French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, broke his leg on December 24 when 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo jumped over a barricade in the church and knocked the Pope over.

The Pope was not hurt but Etchegaray fell too, broke his femur and underwent surgery in late December.

The Vatican said the Pope spent about a half hour with Etchegaray, a former top Vatican official, at Rome's Gemelli hospital.

Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian, shocked the Catholic world and Vatican security when she jumped over a barricade as the Pope was walking in procession up the main aisle to start the mass.

She grabbed Benedict's vestments and caused him to fall to the marble floor.

Maiolo is being held in an Italian psychiatric institution
.

Hat tip to Spirit Daily!

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