VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI broke his wrist in a fall at his vacation home in the Italian Alps on July 17.

Father Federico Lombardi, the papal spokesman, said that the Pope's injury was a "slight fracture of the right wrist," incurred when the 82-year-old Pope slipped in his bathtub. The Holy Father was able to celebrate Mass and have breakfast before making the decision to have his injury checked at the hospital in nearby Aosta, he said.

At the hospital, the Pope refused preferential treatment, insisting that doctors treat other patients before examining him. An X-ray revealed the fracture, and doctors performed an operation-- with the Pope under "light" sedation-- to repair the bone. The operation was described as completely successful, and the Pope is expected to resume his vacation, with his movements (including, presumably, his beloved piano practice) inhibited by a cast.