Now they decide to get serious

Rachel Donadio has an article in The New York Times:

Stung by the televised knockdown of Pope Benedict XVI at Christmas Eve Mass by a woman who had sought to assault him a year ago, the Vatican said Friday it would review security procedures, raising the possibility of more stringent public access to the pope, leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.
Benedict, 82, was unhurt. He quickly recovered and celebrated Mass, and he looked well hours later as he delivered his traditional Christmas Day greeting from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday. A French cardinal caught in the scuffle suffered a fractured thighbone.
The assailant, identified by the Vatican as Susanna Maiolo, a 25-year-old Swiss-Italian national with a history of mental problems, was held for questioning and hospitalized in Rome. She was not under formal arrest, and it was unclear whether she would face charges.
Yet the assault on the pope, captured on television and by tourist cameras and replayed countless times, raised serious questions about Vatican, and Italian, security. It was the first direct attack on Benedict since he became pope in 2005, and it came less than two weeks after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized after a mentally unstable man struck him at a campaign rally. Both leaders see walking among their supporters as central to their roles.
The televised images of the assault on the pope also underscored his vulnerability in the midst of throngs of people, and they brought to mind the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981 by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish gunman, in St. Peter’s Square. Mr. Agca is to be released from a Turkish prison next month. Papal security is provided by the Vatican gendarmes, a private police force; the Swiss Guards, who are more akin to an army; and Italian law enforcement.
The Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, said that in response to the attack, “I think the Vatican gendarmes, the Swiss Guards and the other officials will do their reflections.” In a statement, the Vatican said Ms. Maiolo was not armed. But, compounding the security questions, the Vatican said that Ms. Maiolo had tried the same thing last year, only to be stopped by security before she could do any harm. She had traveled to Rome from Switzerland, the news agency ANSA reported.
It is not difficult to imagine how the assailant had become a repeat offender. To attend Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, visitors must request tickets in advance, but they are not personalized and the Vatican does not check identification. After the terrorist attacks of 11 September, it did, however, begin sending Mass participants through metal detectors.
Father Lombardi said that he did not anticipate major changes in protocol, or the possibility of “zero risk”, since the Vatican is generally opposed to measures that segregate the pope from his flock. “The closeness between the pope and the people is fundamental to the pastoral dimension of the church,” Father Lombardi said. “Security that tries to close off the pope and keep him away from people is not desirable.” Father Lombardi said that “if the pope wants to be among people, it is impossible to have total security.” Nonetheless, the review of how the pope’s protectors do their job suggested that Vatican security officials could tighten public access to him.
The situation at Christmas Eve Mass was dramatic. Television cameras showed a woman in a red jacket vaulting over the barriers as the papal procession entered the main aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica. After landing at the pope’s feet, the woman pulled on his vestments, causing him to lose his balance and fall as security guards grabbed her, Father Lombardi said
In the confusion, the French cardinal, Roger Etchegaray, also fell, and he was taken away in a wheelchair. The cardinal, who is 87, broke his femur, Father Lombardi said, but is recovering well at a Rome hospital. Father Lombardi said that Ms. Maiolo was being monitored in a medical facility and that he did not know whether the Vatican would pursue any legal actions. The Vatican, an independent state, would have to formally petition the Italian authorities on any judicial action. “It seems the issue is more about treating this woman medically more than juridically,” Father Lombardi said.
Benedict is said to be in fine health, but he had moved Christmas Eve Mass to 10 p.m. from midnight to save his strength for his demanding public schedule during the holidays.
On Friday, Benedict looked well as he gave his traditional Urbi et Orbi message (“to the city and the world”) and offered Christmas greetings in a host of different languages from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.
In his message, Benedict said that the Catholic Church was in solidarity with “a human family profoundly affected by a grave financial crisis, yet even more by a moral crisis, and by the painful wounds of wars and conflicts.” He spoke of the conflict in Iraq and the “little flock of Christians” in the Middle East. “At times it is subject to violence and injustice, but it remains determined to make its own contribution to the building of a society opposed to the logic of conflict and the rejection of one’s neighbor,” Benedict said. The pope also singled out Honduras, which has been politically unstable since its president was ousted in a coup in June, and where its newly elected leader is not universally recognized. Benedict said that in Honduras the church was helping in the “process of rebuilding institutions”. He also referred to the situation of Christians in Sri Lanka, the Korean Peninsula, and the Philippines, and in Africa called for more human rights in Guinea and Niger, and pleaded for an end to conflict in Madagascar.

Rico asks what's next? A repeat attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca?