"If he cannot change the route or the hour, he must use at least a protected car," said Claude Moniquet, head of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a Brussels-based think tank on security issues.
The man vaulted onto a wooden barrier and then over in an apparent attempt to get into the white popemobile. One guard grabbed him as he leaped, but the man managed to grab hold of the vehicle before security men trailing the car pinned him to the ground.
Benedict didn't flinch. The 80-year-old, German-born pope continued waving and blessing the cheering crowd of some 35,000 people as his jeep kept moving slowly forward and the audience proceeded as if nothing had happened.
The Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, said the man was a 27-year-old German who showed signs of "mental imbalance." He declined to identify him.
"His aim was not an attempt on the pope's life but to attract attention to himself," Lombardi told reporters.
The man was interrogated by Vatican police and then taken to a hospital for psychiatric treatment, he said.
Moniquet, a security specialist who has written about protecting heads of state, said leaders such as the pope have to balance the need to be accessible to the public with their need for security in today's violent world.
But unlike other leaders who make occasional forays into the public domain, the pope has a regular appointment with the faithful each Wednesday morning -- precisely the type of routine that security guards try to avoid.
"The fact is you cannot ensure 100 percent protection," Moniquet said. "It's around the Vatican. It's a ritual."
Nevertheless, Vatican officials said there were no plans to change the use of open vehicles for the weekly audience at the Vatican.
