Vatican City – A German man jumped a security barrier and grabbed the back of Pope Benedict XVI’s open “popemobile” before being swarmed by security guards Wednesday, reviving a debate over whether the pontiff needs stronger protection during his public audiences.
Benedict was not harmed and appeared not to even notice, never looking back as he waved to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square. But security analysts said he exposes himself to undue risk by appearing at the same place and time each week in an open vehicle.
“If he cannot change the route or the hour, he must use at least a protected car,” said Claude Moniquet, head of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a Brussels-based think tank on security issues.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the man was a 27-year-old German who showed signs of “mental imbalance.” He declined to identify him.
“His aim was not an attempt on the pope’s life but to attract attention to himself,” Lombardi told reporters.
The man was interrogated by Vatican police and then taken to a hospital for psychiatric treatment, he said.
The incident rekindled memories of the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. John Paul II suffered a severe abdominal wound as he rode in an open vehicle at the start of his weekly audience in the Vatican piazza – the same event as Wednesday’s.
Moniquet, a security expert who has written about protecting heads of state, said leaders such as the pope have to balance proximity to the public with their own need for security in today’s violent world.
But unlike other leaders who make occasional forays into the public domain, the pope has a regular appointment with the faithful each Wednesday morning – precisely the type of routine that security guards try to avoid.
Vatican officials said there were no plans to change the luse of open vehicles for the weekly audience at the Vatican. When the pope travels abroad, he uses a popemobile outfitted with bulletproof glass.
