The Pope spoke in a firm voice in front of thousands of pilgrims, appearing undaunted by the earlier incident.
He said the Church was a "source of unity" for many people across the world and called for those in conflict zones to show respect for one another.
The Vatican said the woman who jumped at the Pope had been taken to hospital.
Vatican officials said she appeared to be mentally unstable, and that she had attempted to get to the Pope at the same event last year.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who was standing a few metres away, fell and broke his hip during the incident.
Multi-lingual address
The assault took place as the pontiff was about to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica.
The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says the Vatican is trying its best to play down the incident.
Pope Benedict spoke for about 30 minutes before leaving the podium
But our correspondent says the Pope's security is a very difficult issue as the pontiff has to interact with the congregation and many Catholics would be angry if he was only ever seen from behind a screen.
The 82-year-old pontiff made no mention of the incident during his Christmas message.
Instead he focused on the world's needy and praised the work of the Church in places like the Philippines, Korea and Sri Lanka.
He said the Church was a "source of unity" for many people across the world and called for those in conflict zones to show respect for one another.
The Vatican said the woman who jumped at the Pope had been taken to hospital.
Vatican officials said she appeared to be mentally unstable, and that she had attempted to get to the Pope at the same event last year.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who was standing a few metres away, fell and broke his hip during the incident.
Multi-lingual address
The assault took place as the pontiff was about to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica.
The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says the Vatican is trying its best to play down the incident.
Pope Benedict spoke for about 30 minutes before leaving the podium
But our correspondent says the Pope's security is a very difficult issue as the pontiff has to interact with the congregation and many Catholics would be angry if he was only ever seen from behind a screen.
The 82-year-old pontiff made no mention of the incident during his Christmas message.
Instead he focused on the world's needy and praised the work of the Church in places like the Philippines, Korea and Sri Lanka.
He deplored the continuing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spoke of the problems facing people in Madagascar, Guinea, Niger and Honduras.
He then wished pilgrims a happy Christmas in 65 languages - drawing delighted cheers from the crowd.
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