Vatican City — Pope Benedict XVI was taken to a hospital in northern Italy on Friday after slipping and falling during his vacation in the Alps, a Vatican spokesman said.
Benedict "slipped and got hurt" but "it doesn't seem to be serious," the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.
Lombardi said the pope went to the hospital in the town of Aosta for an examination after the accident. He said the Vatican would issue a statement later Friday after the tests were concluded.
The ANSA news agency reported that Benedict arrived at the hospital by car and walked into the first aid ward with an aide. Tiziano Trevisan, a spokesman at the Umberto Parini hospital in Aosta, said an X-ray had been taken of one of the pope's wrists.
Since Monday, Benedict has been vacationing at chalet in the village of Les Combes in the Valle d'Aosta region near the French border.
Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, also spent several summer at Les Combes. While John Paul liked to hike, Benedict spends most of his time inside the chalet that looks out on Mount Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps.