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Pope Benedict XVI is greeted by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray during a private visit at the Gemelli hospital in Rome - Source: Reuters -
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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.
