The Pope delivered his traditional Christmas Day blessing today, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine hours after being knocked down by a woman who jumped over a barrier in St Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican said 82-year-old Benedict XVI was unhurt in the fall and his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.

French cardinal Roger Etchegaray, an 87-year-old Vatican diplomat, fractured his hip in the commotion and will be operated on at Rome's Gemelli hospital.

Benedict appeared a bit unsteady today as he approached his chair on the loggia overlooking St Peter's Square to deliver his traditional Christmas greeting and was helped by an attendant.

But he then spread open his arms and blessed the crowd and began the "Urbi et Orbi" speech, Latin for "To the city and the world".

The Vatican identified his attacker as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems. Maiolo, who was not armed, was taken to a clinic for necessary treatment.

She was the same woman involved in a similar incident at last year's Midnight Mass, Vatican officials said. In that case, she jumped the barricade but never managed to reach the Pope and was quietly tackled to the ground by security.

In both cases she wore a red sweatshirt.

During last night's service, Maiolo jumped over the barricade and lunged for the Pope as he processed down the aisle towards the altar.

As security guards brought her down, she grabbed Benedict's vestments and pulled him down with her.

After a few seconds on the floor, Benedict stood up with the help of attendants, put back on his mitre and took hold of his staff, and continued to process down the aisle to the cheers of "Viva il Papa!" ("Long live the Pope").

He continued to celebrate the Mass without incident.

It is the first time a potential attacker has come into direct contact with Benedict during his nearly five-year papacy. Security analysts have frequently warned that he is too exposed in his public appearances.

After getting up, Benedict, flanked by tense bodyguards, reached the basilica's main altar to start the Mass. The Pope, who broke his right wrist in a fall this summer, appeared unharmed but somewhat shaken and leaned heavily on aides and an armrest as he sat down in his chair.

Benedict made no reference to the disturbance after the service started or at the beginning of his Christmas Day message. As a choir sang, he sprinkled incense on the altar before opening the Mass with the traditional wish for peace in Latin.

The Pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.

Since the September 11 2001 attacks on the US, the Vatican has tightened security at events where the Pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with those entering the basilica going through metal detectors or being scanned by metal-detecting wands.

But Sister Samira, an Indian aide to Vatican officials who attended the service and saw the incident, said she is never searched by security when she attends papal Masses, and said the same holds true for other people in religious garb.

Benedict celebrated this year's Christmas Eve Mass two hours earlier than the usual midnight starting time in a move by the Vatican to ease his busy holiday schedule.

He has been remarkably healthy during his pontificate, keeping to a busy schedule and travelling around the world.

But in July, he broke his wrist during a late-night fall while holidaying in an Alpine chalet and had to have minor surgery and wear a cast for a month - an episode that highlights the risk he ran in yesterday's tumble.

In his homily after the incident, the Pope urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters.

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims from around the world descended on the traditional birthplace of Jesus for the most upbeat Christmas celebrations the Palestinian town has seen in years.

Hundreds of worshippers packed St Catherine's Church on Manger Square for morning mass. Most were local Palestinian Christians, and the mass was celebrated in Arabic.

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