Pontiff Trips on His Robe, Fractures Shoulder

Pope John Paul II tripped on the hem of his white robe and fractured his shoulder in a fall at the Vatican on Thursday. He spent the night under observation in a Rome hospital and will go back to work today with his arm in a sling, his doctors said.

The 73-year-old pontiff was described as in rueful good spirits Thursday night, and his doctors and Vatican officials said there was no cause for alarm.

“We’re not worried. The Holy Father really is in good form,” hospital Director Liugi Candia said after visiting the Pope. “He’s only here tonight as a precaution we would take for anyone after a general anesthetic.”

Aides said the mishap occurred as the Pope descended from his throne in the Apostolic Palace after delivering a late-morning address to delegates who had been attending a meeting of U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, which is based in Rome.

As he moved to greet his visitors, John Paul stepped on the hem of his robe and stumbled down a bank of four steps, the aides said. He rose immediately without assistance, completed the meeting, shaking hands and giving blessings, and left unaided.

Later, however, he complained of continuing pain. After an examination at the Vatican, his personal physician accompanied him in the black papal limousine to Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

There, doctors diagnosed a dislocated right shoulder and a slight fracture, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro said Thursday night.

Doctors said the Pope was given a 15-minute general anesthetic for a three-minute procedure to reset the shoulder.

Emilio Tresalti, chief of medicine at the hospital, said the fracture was not serious and called the use of anesthesia “a necessary detail.”

Tresalti said the Pope will wear a sling to immobilize the shoulder for about six weeks but otherwise can work normally.

John Paul spent the night at the Catholic medical complex where he is a well-known patient: He was operated on at the Gemelli after being wounded by an assailant in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, and returned in July, 1992, for surgery to remove an intestinal tumor.