Strolling Pope Chats With 5 Kids

He speaks with the children of Snowstorms and his Wrist Injury.

INTROD, Italy (Zenit.org) - During one of his vacation strolls, Benedict XVI came across five children, stopping to chat with them about his wrist injury.

The Pope encountered the children, accompanied by two women, during a walk Wednesday afternoon, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi recounted.

As can be seen in Vatican Television video, one of the women asked the Holy Father about his recovering wrist, which he fractured last week in a fall.

"It needs time and patience," he replied.

One of the children surprised the Pontiff, telling him that at his home, nearby Val di Rhemes, there was a 6-meter (19.7 feet) snowfall last winter.

"I can't imagine 6 meters of snow," the Pope exclaimed. "That's higher than a house!"

Working too

Father Lombardi said that today, the Holy Father took time from his rest to review the documents brought him by his secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

And the spokesman clarified where the next X-ray of the Pope's wrist will take place, silencing press rumors. He said that a portable X-ray machine was brought to the Holy Father today from the Aosta hospital, and his next exam will be this Saturday morning.

He added: "In addition to the Vatican doctors, Doctors Patrizio Polisca and Pierluigi Berti, obviously Doctor Manuel Mancini will be there -- the doctor who operated on the Holy Father -- and Professor Vincenzo Sessa, director of the orthopedics department at Rome's Hospital of the Brothers of St. John of God and a specialist who is a habitual collaborator in Vatican medical services, who will give orthopedic follow up to the Holy Father upon his return to Castel Gandolfo. Thus there will be continuity in his medical assistance."

Friday, the Holy Father will visit Aosta and preside over vespers in the city's cathedral.