Injured French cardinal to be released from hospital

Rome, Italy, Jan 7, 2010 /(CNA).-

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray will soon be released from the hospital after being admitted on Christmas Eve for a broken leg. The prelate was injured in a fall caused by Vatican security as they attempted to impede a disturbed woman from approaching Pope Benedict XVI as he processed in to St. Peter's Basilica to celebrate Mass.

According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the cardinal is recovering and will be sent home by January 10.

Etchegaray underwent surgery for a complete arthroprosthesis of the right hip on Dec. 27 at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome to repair a fractured femoral neck, reported Fr. Federico Lombardi in a statement from the Vatican Press Office on that day.

As for the 25-year old Susanna Maiolo, the Swiss woman that jumped a barrier to allegedly embrace the Pontiff, she is still being held in the Angelluci psychiatric hospital in a small city near Rome.