Pope Blesses Faithful Wearing Cast

ROMANO CANAVESE, Italy (July 19) — Pope Benedict XVI blessed a few hundred faithful Sunday with his right arm in a cast during his first public appearance since undergoing surgery to set a wrist he fractured in a fall.

The fracture was the first significant medical issue of Benedict's 4-year-old papacy.

Looking strong, relaxed and happy, the 82-year-old Benedict also raised his right arm on several occasions to acknowledge the throngs of well-wishers who turned out in the northern Italian village of Romano Canavese to greet him.

"As you can see because of my accident, my mobility is a bit limited," Benedict told the crowd of about 2,000 at the start of his blessing. "But the presence of my heart is full and I'm here with you with great joy," he said to applause.

Benedict had surgery Friday to set the broken wrist he suffered during a nighttime fall in the papal vacation chalet in Les Combes, a mountain retreat overlooking Mont Blanc near Italy's border with France.

Doctors have said the right-handed Benedict will have to wear the cast for about a month but would suffer no long-term trouble writing or playing the piano — another favorite pastime.

The faithful kissed Benedict's left hand and he used the left hand to shake hands and greet well-wishers as he arrived in Romano Canavese. But at the end of his traditional Sunday blessing, Benedict raised his right arm, immobilized from the elbow down in a plaster cast, and made the sign of the cross with ease.

He thanked the doctors and medical staff at the nearby Aosta hospital for their "diligence, competence and friendship," and gave thanks for all the prayers offered for his recovery.

Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Sunday that the pope is adapting well to the cast and was eager to keep his commitments.

"The Holy Father's condition is good," Lombardi told AP Television News. "He needs to learn to live with an immobile wrist, meaning that some activities, in particular writing which is very important for him, will be limited. He's a very patient person and surely he will experience this small test with serenity."

Lombardi said that from the moment of the fall, Benedict had said he wanted to maintain his promise to deliver his Sunday blessing in Romano Canavese, the birthplace of his No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The pontiff was to enjoy a private lunch afterward with Bertone and one of his brothers in the family home before returning to Les Combes.

Well-wishers and faithful streamed into the village from Piemonte and the neighboring mountain region of Val d'Aosta, where the pope is spending his summer holidays. Nearly 2,000 faithful filled the main square while thousands more watched from large screen TVs elsewhere in the hamlet and lined the papal route to the center.

"I don't go to Mass every week, but I have faith," said Jolanda Taruscia Chiavasso near Turin. "I have been to Lourdes and to Rome to see the previous pope, and now here to see this pope for the first time."

One detail that changed for the pope: He usually wears his Fisherman's Ring — a gold ring which the faithful kiss and signifies his papal authority, on his right hand. After the surgery Friday, the ring was on his left hand. By Sunday, though, it was back on his right ring finger.

Benedict is scheduled to stay until July 29 in Les Combes, where he spent two previous summers as pope. On his agenda are two other public appearances: vespers in Aosta on Friday and another Sunday blessing in Les Combes next week.

His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, also spent several summers here. While John Paul liked to hike, Benedict spends most of his time inside the chalet.

He had said upon arrival in Les Combes that he expected to rest and work on the second volume of his book on Jesus of Nazareth — although the prospects for writing have been curtailed by his injury. The pope prefers to write by hand.