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Vatican: Pope Francis Suffers Bruised Arm from Fall

Pope Francis’ arm, tied up in a white sling, was visible in photos taken on the morning of Jan. 16, 2025, in the apostolic palace during his scheduled audiences.
Hannah Brockhaus

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, 16 January, 2025 / 3:30 pm (ACI Africa).

The Vatican said Thursday that Pope Francis had suffered a “contusion” on his right forearm after falling at his residence that same morning.

While the arm was not fractured in the accident, it was braced “as a precautionary measure,” the brief communication said.

Pope Francis’ arm, tied up in a white sling, was visible in photos taken on the morning of Jan. 16 in the apostolic palace during his scheduled audiences.

The 88-year-old pope was also mildly injured in a fall in December. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, on the morning of Dec. 6, 2024, Francis hit his chin on his nightstand, causing a large hematoma on the lower right side of his cheek.

Francis was also sick with a cold right before Christmas.

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The illness and both falls did not stop the pontiff from keeping his as usual busy schedule.

On the morning of Jan. 16, he met with the Bektashi Islamic leader of Tirana, Albania, His Grace Haji Dede Edmond Brahimaj; Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile, chairwoman of the World Food Security Committee; Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; Archbishop-elect Alberto Torriani of Crotone-Santa Severina; and a group of Argentine priests studying in Rome. 

Pope Francis has increasingly shown his age in recent years, as he now almost always uses a wheelchair to move around and has occasional problems with breathlessness. At Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024, he could be seen wearing what appeared to be hearing devices.

In 2017, Pope Francis also suffered a fall while visiting the South American country of Colombia. He slipped and hit his cheek and eyebrow on the popemobile while reaching to greet a child.

Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.

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