Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary has visited the woman who knocked the pontiff to the ground at midnight Mass, the Pope's spokesman said yesterday.

Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope's secretary Bishop Georg Gaenswein paid a visit to Susana Maiolo, who has a history of mental problems and is being held in a psychiatric unit outside Rome.

A report in Il Giornale daily newspaper said Bishop Gaenswein gave her a rosary, saying the pontiff had forgiven her for what she had done.

Ms Maiolo, 25, leapt over a security barrier and bundled the Pope to the ground at the Christmas Eve midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica.

The Pope was unhurt and led the service as planned, but the 87-year-old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was also knocked over, suffered a broken hip.

"Over the last few days, in a confidential way, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein paid a visit to Miss Maiolo to show the Holy Father's interest in her situation," Fr Lombardi said in a statement.

Ms Maiolo, who has Swiss and Italian nationality, is under investigation by a Vatican court, and Fr Lombardi said this process would be allowed to run its course.