This morning, Jan. 16, 2024, 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.
In the video, Holy Father Francis with Dr. Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The Pope's health status
Since 2022 Pope Francis has begun to make use of a wheelchair, which, as he also explained in his recent autobiography, particularly bothers him because he does not like to be seen in this “garb.” At Casa Santa Marta, however, Francis often moves around with a cane and loves to receive journalists, politicians, economists and the powerful of the earth. Bergoglio suffers from a disabling knee condition: gonarthrosis, an arthritis in his right knee.
On July 4, 2021, the pope underwent surgery for diverticulitis that forced him to spend 10 days on the third floor of Policlinico Gemelli. His last hospitalization was in March 2023. That year was particularly difficult: in March he went to Gemelli because of infectious bronchitis; in late May he underwent laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis. However, there are numerous checkups that Pope does confidentially and activities even for his right knee, precisely.
