Pope Benedict fractures wrist after fall during vacation

(July 17, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI was taken to a hospital in northern Italy on Friday after slipping and falling during his vacation in the Alps, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said. In a brief note Friday morning, the Jesuit priest said that “after a fall in his room last night, the Holy Father sustained a light fracture on his right wrist.” “However,” he said, “the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in the morning and had breakfast. Later, he was accompanied to the hospital of Valle d'Aosta where they proceeded to immobilize his wrist.” He told journalists that the Pope slipped in his bath and was taken to hospital for check-ups. “It's nothing serious," he said. Witnesses said the 82-year-old pontiff walked into hospital himself. Tiziano Trevisan, a spokesman at the Umberto Parini hospital in Aosta, said an X-ray had been taken of the Pope’s wrist. Since Monday, Pope Benedict has been vacationing at a small cottage in the village of Les Combes in the Valle d'Aosta region near the French border.