Pope falls and fractures wrist

The Holy Father has had a fall in the bath and fractured his wrist which had to be operated on and put in a cast for a month. Do pray for the Vicar of Christ in his moment of infirmity. It must be very trying and uncomfortable, at his advanced age. May Our Blessed Mother, Health of the Sick, prayer for him and cover him under her mantle.

Police officers patrol outside the hospital in Aosta in northern Italy where Pope Benedict is being treated for a wrist fracture July 17, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

And in your charity, do keep my grandma in prayer as well. She also had a fall and broke her wrist on her birthday and had to be admitted. Birthdays are not good times for our family. I lost my wallet on my birthday and I'm still trying to get my documents and ATM cards in order. Anyway, her arm was in a cast for a month and half and it was a very trying time for her and for those who cared for her. She recently had 2 falls at home and is in pain from the lower back. Do keep her in your prayers.

Some photos of the Holy Father enjoying his vacation before his fall.

This recent picture released by the Vatican shows Pope Benedict XVI during his vacation at Les Combes, in the mountain resort of Val D'aosta. (Osservatore Romano)

Do keep the Holy Father, his caregivers, his doctors and the hospital staff in prayer too.

The Holy Father and Msgr. Gänswein

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI greets hospital staff as he leaves the Regional Hospital after a surgery on his right wrist, seen in a cast, in Aosta, northern Italy, Friday, July 17, 2009. Doctors said his right arm would be in a cast for a month. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

Doctor Amedeo Mancini, center, answers media questions after he operated on Pope Benedict XVI's right wrist, at the Regional Hospital in Aosta, Italy, Friday, July 17, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY RELIGION HEALTH)

From the Vatican Information Service:

POPE SUCCESSFULLY OPERATED FOR WRIST FRACTURE

VATICAN CITY, 17 JUL 2009 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI underwent surgery at the Umberto Parini hospital in the Italian town of Aosta for a fracture to his right wrist. He had suffered a fall last night in his chalet at Les Combes in Valle d'Aosta where he is spending a brief holiday.

The Holy Father arrived at the hospital at 9:45 a.m. this morning. "Even so", declared Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi, "he celebrated Mass and had breakfast early this morning".

Later the Pope "underwent an operation to realign the fractured fragments and fasten them through osteosynthesis, using a local anaesthetic then applying a cast. The Holy Father's general condition is good" added the Pope's doctor Patrizio Polisca, specifying that "the Pope will return shortly to his residence".

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves the Regional Hospital in Aosta, Italy, Friday, July 17, 2009, after surgery on his right wrist. The pope broke his right wrist during a late-night fall in his Alpine vacation chalet and will have to have his arm in a cast for a month while recovering from surgery, doctors said Friday.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The right arm of Pope Benedict is seen as he leaves the hospital in Aosta after being treated for a wrist fracture July 17, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY RELIGION HEALTH)

The Pope begins his summer holidays

A friend of mine just went to Rome a couple of days ago and attended the Sunday Angelus after hearing Mass (In Italian) at St. Peter's. But the Pope left soon after, trying to escape my friend, it seems.

Adam somewhere in the crowd?

From the Vatican Information Service:

HOLY FATHER BEGINS A BRIEF HOLIDAY IN VALLE D'AOSTA

VATICAN CITY, 13 JUL 2009 (VIS) - At 10.30 a.m. today, Benedict XVI left Rome by plane and, following an hour-long flight, arrived at Caselle airport in the northern Italian city of Turin. From there he travelled by helicopter to the residence of Les Combes in the region of Valle d'Aosta where he will spend a sixteen-day vacation.

As he did in 2005 and 2006, the Pope will stay in a chalet belonging to the Salesian Order, the same as that in which John Paul II often used to spend his holidays. The building, made of wood and stone, has two floors and is surrounded by a large garden. It stands at an altitude of 1200 meters and has views over Mont Blanc and other mountains on the French-Italian frontier as well as over the Italian-Swiss Alps.

The only two public ceremonies scheduled for the Pope's vacation are on Sunday 19 July and Sunday 26 July. On 19 July he will pray the Angelus at Piazza Ruggia in front of the parish church of Sts. Peter and Solutor at Romano Canavese in the diocese of Ivrea. On 26 July he will pray the Angelus in the residence of Les Combes.

Benedict XVI will stay at Les Combes - located some 20 kilometres from the city of Aosta within the municipality of Introd - until 29 July.

Following his vacation in Valle d'Aosta, the Pope will move to his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, 30 kilometres south of Rome, where he will remain until the end of September.

The Pope's next apostolic trip, the thirteenth since the start of his pontificate, will take him to the Czech Republic from 26 to 28 September.