Turing to greet a child while in the Colombian city of Cartagena, Pope Francis slammed his face against the windshield of his popemobile hitting his cheekbone and eyebrow.
The accident was caused by the sudden breaking of the popemobile, and left bruising under the Pope’s left eye on the arch of his eyebrow and on the cheekbone. Photos afterwards also showed some spots of blood on his cassock.
Francis, however, insisted on continuing greeting the crowd, and was given medical assistance straight away by his head of security, Domenico Giani.
“The Holy Father is fine,” Holy See spokesman, Greg Burke, said. “Ice was applied [to the bruising] and then it was medicated. He continued without any change to the trip’s program.”
Later on the Pope was seen with a plaster around his eye. When asked what happened Francis joked: “I gave myself a punch!”, before adding that he was “fine.”
Aside from suffering bouts of sciatica, the 80-year-old Pope is in good health. The incident in Colombia is not, however, the first physical hiccup to have happened during one of his trips abroad. In July 2016 he tripped and fell over while celebrating Mass at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland. He quickly got back to his feet and suffered no injuries.
PICTURE: Francis shows signs of bruising while leading Mass in Cartagena, Colombia
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