Wow! Nobody Attacked the Pope This Year!

This year's Christmas Eve celebration at the Vatican was comparatively dull, compared to what happened last year, and the year before that.

Nobody attacked the Pope.

Can't say I'm sorry about the lack of excitement.

Here's part of a pretty good bit of news coverage of what didn't happen. And what the Pope did, last year:

"Pope celebrates Christmas Eve amid security fears"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (December 24, 2010)

"Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Christmas Eve with an evening Mass on Friday amid heightened security concerns following the package bombings at two Rome embassies and Christmas Eve security breaches at the Vatican the past two years.

"Benedict processed down the central aisle of St. Peter's Basilica at the start and end of the Mass without incident; with his normal phalanx of bodyguards on either side, he stopped several times to bless babies held up to him from the pews...."

Recapping what happened at the Christmas Eve Mass in 2008 and 2009:

In 2008, a woman went after the Pope, but was blocked by the Holy See's Swiss Guard.

The next year she tried the same thing, and got through.

In 2009, the Pope was okay, aside from being dragged to the floor by someone "with a history of psychiatric problems." Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was near the Pope, was pushed over too. The Cardinal broke something. Last year I got the impression it was his leg. This year, that's been clarified: he broke his hip.

The woman, with the psychiatric history and a red sweater? The article gets back to her, after a few details about what the Pope said:

"...In his homily, Benedict recalled the birth of Jesus which is commemorated on Christmas and prayed that the faithful today become more like Christ.

" 'Help us to recognize your face in others who need our assistance, in those who are suffering or forsaken, in all people, and help us to live together with you as brothers and sisters, so as to become one family, your family,' he said...."

"...The Vatican identified the pope's 2008 and 2009 Christmas Eve assailant as Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national with a history of psychiatric problems. Both years she wore a telltale red sweat shirt....

[recalling events immediately after the 2009 attack:]

"...Maiolo was treated for some time at a clinic in Rome, and Benedict's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, visited her there. Three weeks later, Maiolo and her family met privately with the pope at the Vatican and the pontiff forgave her.

"The Vatican reviewed security procedures after the knockdown. But officials have long warned there will always be risks to the pontiff since he is regularly surrounded by tens of thousands of people for his weekly audiences, Masses, papal greetings and other events."
("Associated Press, via FoxNews.com)

I don't envy the folks responsible for guarding the Pope. They could keep him relatively safe, if he could be locked away in the more secure areas of the Vatican.

But then he'd have a hard time being the bishop of Rome - and taking care of business, as the current holder of Peter's authority. It's that Matthew 16:18 thing, and I've discussed it before. (March 27, 2010, for one)

Forgiveness: It's Important

No long discussion this time: just my opinion, that forgiveness is important for the person doing the forgiving; and whoever is being forgiven.

Holding on to resentments and anger isn't a good idea. I've tried it. Seriously: It's not a good idea. Letting go isn't easy, either: and that's another topic. Several.

"With a History of Psychiatric Problems"

I've got nothing particularly profound to say about this. I could say something like "there, but for the Grace of God, go I."

One problem with that: I'm someone "with a history of psychiatric problems" myself. Major depression, and ADHD, specifically.

'That's different,' or maybe not so much.

I'm not likely to attack the Pope: But I've got some notion of what it's like to work with a brain that's not running quite according to specifications

And that's yet again another topic.

I'll try to get back, later today or maybe tomorrow, with something a bit more conventionally 'Christmasy.' But, as I've said before, "I don't do 'conventional.' " Still another topic.

Posts about this year, and last, in Rome; forgiveness, and somebody with a psychiatric condition:

• "Bombs in Rome: Another Flavor of Terrorist"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 24, 2010)
• "Brilliant, Talented, and On Medication"
  (November 30, 2010)
• "ADHD, an Apostolic Exhortation, Another Document, and V8"
  (November 11, 2010)
• " 'Vengeance is Mine, I will Repay, Says the Lord' - Works for Me"
  (September 11, 2010)
• "Pope Attacked at Christmas Eve Mass: And What He Said"
  (December 24, 2009)
• "Feeling Forgiven: My Faith and Emotional Perks"
  (November 24, 2009)

In the news:

• "Pope celebrates Christmas Eve amid security fears"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (December 24, 2010)