After knockdown,a security ring

Stung by the televised knockdown of Pope Benedict XVI at Christmas Eve Mass by a woman ,the Vatican said Friday it would review security procedures,raising the possibility of more stringent public access to the pope,leader of the world8217;s 1.1 billion Catholics.

Benedict,82,was unhurt. He quickly recovered and celebrated Mass. Yet the assault on the pope,captured on television and by tourist cameras and replayed countless times,raised serious questions about Vatican,and Italian,security. It was the first direct attack on Benedict since he became pope in 2005,and it came less than two weeks after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized after a mentally unstable man struck him at a campaign rally. Both leaders see walking among their supporters as central to their roles.

The televised images of the assault on the pope abrought to mind the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981 by Mehmet Ali Agca,a Turkish gunman,in St. Peter8217;s Square. Papal security is provided by the Vatican gendarmes,a private police force; the Swiss Guards,who are more akin to an army; and Italian law enforcement.

The Vatican spokesman,the Rev Federico Lombardi,said that in response to the attack,8221;I think the Vatican gendarmes,the Swiss Guards and the other officials will do their reflections.8221;

Father Lombardi said that he did not anticipate major changes in protocol,or the possibility of 8220;zero risk8221;,since Vatican is generally opposed to measures that segregate the pope from his flock.