A 27-year-old man has been taken to a psychiatric institution for tests after he leaped over a barricade and tried to jump on to Pope Benedict's 'Popemobile'.
The man, who is from Germany, took the Pope's bodyguards by surprise in St Peter's Square, coming within a metre of the pontiff in an episode that brought back memories of the 1981 assassination attempt against his predecessor Pope John Paul II.
Television pictures showed the man wearing a baseball cap jump out of the crowd and over a wooden barricade as the Pope passed by to start his weekly audience for some 40,000 people.
He tried to jump on the back of the moving vehicle, but managed only to touch it before being wrestled to the ground by Vatican security guards. The episode lasted about 15 seconds.
'He was clearly deranged but did not want to kill or harm the Pope, he only wanted to draw attention to himself,' Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
After questioning by a Vatican judge, the man, who was unarmed, was taken to a psychiatric institution in Italy for testing. His identity was not disclosed.
The man did not appear to be holding anything in his hands nor carrying any bag. Tourists and pilgrims entering St Peter's Square go through airport-style metal detectors and have their bags checked by Italian police.
Pope Benedict was standing on the open jeep facing forward and looking at the crowd to his left and did not see the man trying to get on the vehicle.
The speed of the vehicle did not increase, suggesting the driver also did not know what was happening behind him.
John Paul II was shot and nearly killed in the same square by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca on 13 May 1981.
