Rome — Pope Francis fell and injured his right hand on Thursday, the Vatican said, just weeks after another apparent fall left his chin badly bruised. Francis did not break his arm but was wearing a sling as a precaution, a Vatican spokesman said in a statement
On December 7, Pope hit his chin on a nightstand in a fall, resulting in a severe bruise.
An 88-year-old pope who has struggled with health problems including long ones attacks of bronchitisoften has to use a wheelchair because of sore knees. He uses a walker or cane to get around his apartment at the Santa Marta Hotel in the Vatican.
The Vatican said Thursday's fall also occurred in Santa Marta, and the pope was later seen at an audience with his right arm in a sling.
Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/Handout/REUTERS
“This morning, due to a fall in Santa Marta House, Pope Francis suffered a non-fractured contusion of his right forearm. The arm was immobilized as a precaution,” the report said.
Speculation about Francis' health has been constant in Vatican circles, especially since Pope Benedict XVI broke with 600-year-old tradition and resigned from the papacy in 2013. Benedict's aides attribute the decision to an overnight fall he suffered during a trip to Mexico in 2012, after which he decided he couldn't keep up with the demands of traveling the world. papacy
However, Francis has said he has no plans to resign anytime soon, even though Benedict has “opened the door” to the possibility. In his autobiography, Hope, released this week, Francis said he had not considered retirement even after undergoing major bowel surgery.
Francis had part of one of his lungs removed when he was a young man in Argentina after a severe bout of pneumonia.