Rome, Italy, Jul 21, 2009 / 15:06 pm
In response to criticism in the Italian press of the small operation performed on Pope Benedict XVI to repair a fractured wrist, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the surgery was “the best and most reasonable solution possible and there is no reason to be concerned.”
After noting that the Holy Father would still preside at the recitation of vespers with priests from the Diocese of Aosta on Friday, July 24, Father Lombardi said, “The kind of surgery that was performed and its methods were determined after careful reflection by the competent individuals, keeping in mind—as is right and usual—the direct knowledge of the patient and the concrete circumstances.”
Speaking on Vatican Radio, he said some in the media who have questioned the decision to perform surgery on the Pope were not privy to “determining factors of direct knowledge of the patient, of his situation and the circumstances in which he found himself, which are decisive elements in the case of a surgery like the one that was carried out.”
“We can be confident that in this concrete situation, [the surgery carried out] was the best and most reasonable solution possible and that there is no reason to be concerned,” the Vatican spokesman said.