The Pope's fall comes a few weeks after he fell the day before the December consistory of cardinals, leaving him heavily bruised on his face.
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis suffered a fall today, resulting in his arm being put in a sling as a precaution in what comes as a sign of his increasingly frail health.
In a statement issued by the Holy See Press Office around 1 p.m. local time, news was given about a fall Pope Francis had this morning. The brief message read:
This morning, due to a fall at Santa Marta House, Pope Francis suffered a contusion to his right forearm, without fracture. The arm was immobilized as a precautionary measure.
A picture then issued by the press office showed the Pope with his right arm in a sling during his morning meetings. The Pope had a customarily busy morning schedule of meetings according to his public calendar: four private meetings with individuals and an audience with the Argentinian Priestly College of Rome.
The fall comes a few weeks after Francis appeared with another injury during the December 7 consistory to create cardinals. The very visible bruise was explained by the press office as being due to a minor fall that Francis had on the previous morning, when he hit his chin on his bedside table.
Francis’ mobility has become increasingly limited in recent years, requiring the assistance of a walking stick for very short distances and being pushed in a wheelchair for anything else.
Over Christmas he complained of a cold, which led to aides reading some of his addresses for him as well as moving one of the weekly Sunday Angelus addresses to inside.
Previously he had been due to travel to the COP28 climate conference held in Dubia in November 2023. However, his participation in the trip was canceled a few days before he was due to leave, and just hours after his travel details were issued to journalists.
In 2023, Francis had two lengthy hospitalizations: first in March and then in June. In late March of that year he was hospitalized suddenly. The Vatican press office stated the visit was for “previously scheduled checkups,” but this was swiftly debunked by Italian media reports that Francis had to cancel a scheduled interview and his appointments following the Wednesday audience after being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
According to the news reports, which cited sources in the hospital, Francis was suffering from “heart problems” along with breathing issues when he arrived.
The Pope subsequently told a friend that he even “arrived unconscious” at the hospital in March. He later contradicted this when speaking on the issue some weeks later.
His June 2023 visit saw him admitted for an “incarcerated incisional hernia,” which the Holy See Press Office described as a necessary procedure, but not an emergency.
Francis long ago had a lung removed due to an infection as a young man. Then, in 2021, the Pontiff previously underwent a six-hour surgery at the Gemelli to have part of his colon removed due to diverticulitis. He subsequently spent 10 days there in recovery.
