
Pope Francis [Credit: AFP]
The 88-year-old, who has been in increasingly fragile health in recent years, fell at the Santa Marta residence where he lives in the Vatican but did not break any bones, the press office said in a statement.
“This morning, due to a fall at the Santa Marta house, Pope Francis suffered a contusion on his right forearm, without fractures. The arm was immobilised as a precautionary measure,” it said.
In December 2024, the Argentine sported a large bruise on his right jaw caused by a fall from his bed.
But Francis remains very active, completing in September a four-nation trip, the longest of his papacy in terms of duration and distance.
In his autobiography due for release soon, the Pope wrote that he escaped two attempts on his life during his historic trip to Iraq in March 2021, after his security detail were tipped off by the British secret service.
“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he wrote in “Hope,” which goes on sale in over 80 countries in January.
“And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention,” he added, according to excerpts from the book published by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera daily.
AFP