Pope Francis suffered a fall in his residence on Thursday, his second in little greater than a month’s time, the Vatican mentioned.
The 88-year-old pontiff was left with “a contusion to his right forearm” following his stumble at Casa Santa Marta, in keeping with a press release launched by the Holy See press workplace. He didn’t undergo any damaged bones, the assertion famous, however his “arm was immobilized as a precautionary measure.”
Regardless of his damage, Pope Francis attended 5 conferences on Thursday, together with one with Alvaro Lario, the President of the Worldwide Fund of Agricultural Growth, and one other with monks from an Argentine faculty based mostly in Rome. In photographs launched by the Vatican, the pope will be seen sporting a smooth sling through the discussions.
The damage comes some six weeks after Pope Francis slipped whereas getting away from bed, after which slammed his chin on a close-by nightstand. The autumn, which left his face and neck bruised, occurred in early December, within the days main as much as his 88th birthday.
Francis — who has led the Catholic church since 2013 — has confronted a sequence of well being points in recent times, and he now makes use of a wheelchair as a consequence of knee and again ache.
In 2021, the pope underwent surgical procedure to handle a painful situation referred to as diverticulitis, and once more in 2023 to restore a hernia.
He has additionally battled lengthy bouts of bronchitis along with influenza and associated points during the last two years. Nonetheless, he has repeatedly mentioned he has no intention of resigning, even after his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, “opened the door” to the chance.
Benedict broke 600 years of custom and resigned from the papacy in 2013. His aides blamed a fall he suffered throughout a 2012 journey to Mexico, leaving him unable to maintain up with the calls for of the job. Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022 on the age of 95