Pope Francis continued today with the schedule as planned for his last day in Colombia, despite a minor accident in the popemobile as he was trying to reach out to greet a young person.
The popemobile was taking him through the very poor neighborhood of Cartagena, where thousands lined the streets to cheer. Reaching to greet one of the people in the crowd, the pope hit his face against the front window of the popemobile.
Doctor Francisco Holguín, the pope’s physician, cleaned the wound.
The pope’s cassock got some blood on it and of course the security guards were quick to come to his aid.
Francis didn’t give much attention to the cut, and continued with his itinerary, visiting with and greeting the residents of this poor community. He stopped off at the house of Lorenza, one of the residents selected to welcome the pope in her home. (Perhaps as a good grandma, she put some ice on his face.)
“I got punched, but I’m fine,” Pope Francis joked, without losing his sense of humor as the reporters asked him how he was.
“As could be seen during the praying of the Angelus, the Holy Father is fine,” said the director of the Vatican press office, Greg Burke.
Burke said that the pope scraped both his cheekbone and his eye brow.
“They put ice on it, disinfected the wound, and put on a band-aid,” he said. “The trip will continue without any changes.”
The pope’s flight for Rome is scheduled to depart at 7 pm, local time.
And today we celebrate...