POPE FRANCIS GOT a cut on his brow and a bruised eye when he bumped into the window of his popemobile while waving to admirers in Colombia.
Francis, who’s 80 years old, was standing up in the specially designed vehicle during a procession through the Caribbean city of Cartagena when the vehicle braked sharply.
Television pictures showed him colliding with the glass of the vehicle’s covered platform, and then being assisted by his bodyguard.
He was seen later with a bruise on his cheek and a small dressing on his brow, but still smiling.
“I got bashed,” he joked to reporters.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told journalists: “The pope is alright. Ice was put on it and he was treated. He will continue the schedule for his visit with no changes.”
Later, the Pope tweeted that the visit had done him “the world of good”.
Dear Colombian brothers and sisters, thank you! I have met so many people who have touched my heart. You have done me a world of good!
Francis was in Cartagena on the last day of a four-city tour of Columbia to honour St Peter Claver, a 17th-century Jesuit who ministered to the tens of thousands of African slaves who arrived in the port to be sold.
He was due to fly back to Rome last night.
With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha © – AFP 2017
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