Pope Francis' arm is in a sling Thursday after the Vatican confirmed he was injured in a fall, the second such incident in a matter of weeks.

The Vatican said Francis fell inside his residence Thursday morning and said he is now using a cloth sling to support his right arm. Francis also fell and injured his face just six weeks ago in December.

"This morning, due to a fall at the Santa Marta house, Pope Francis suffered a contusion on his right forearm, without fractures. The arm was immobilized as a precautionary measure," a statement said.

The falls are the latest in a series of health issues that have struck the pope, including longstanding knee issues and multiple surgeries in 2021 and 2023.

BIDEN’S MEDAL OF FREEDOM PICKS SHOW DEMOCRATS ARE ‘OUT OF TOUCH’ AND ‘TROLLING’ REPUBLICANS: COLUMNIST

Francis has pushed back on murmurs of his resignation. He wrote in an autobiography published on Tuesday that he is "well."

"The Church is governed using the head and the heart, not the legs," he wrote.

The fall comes just days after President Biden gifted Pope Francis the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor that can be granted in the U.S. The gift was sent over the phone, however, as Biden canceled a previously planned trip to Rome due to the California wildfires.

Instead, Biden bestowed the award on the pope during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.

"Pope Francis is unlike any who came before," a White House announcement reads. "Above all, he is the People’s Pope – a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world."

PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP APPOINTS OUTSPOKEN CONSERVATIVE AS VATICAN AMBASSADOR: ‘BLESSINGS AND RESPONSIBILITIES’

It was the first time during his four years in office that Biden awarded the medal "with distinction," it said.

Biden, 82, leaves office on Jan. 20. The lifelong Catholic is also a recipient of the award with distinction, recognized when he was vice president by then-President Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago. That was the only time in Obama's two terms when he awarded that version of the medal, according to the Associated Press.

Pope Francis recently said that "fake news" was the root cause of the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump last year.

The Catholic News Agency reported on the pontiff’s annual "state of the world" address, which he gave to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See on Thursday. In it, Francis pointed to "fake news" as the root of the division and distrust in society that culminated in Trump almost being killed on two separate occasions in 2024. 

"This phenomenon generates false images of reality, a climate of suspicion that foments hate, undermines people’s sense of security, and compromises civil coexistence and the stability of entire nations. Tragic examples of this are the attacks on the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic and the president-elect of the United States of America," he said.

SLOVAKIA PRIME MINISTER ROBERT FICO SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES, IN 'LIFE-THREATENING CONDITION'

Trump narrowly avoided being killed at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last July, when would-be assassin Thomas Crooks fired at him with an AR-15 rifle.  Crooks’ round missed Trump’s skull by less than an inch, though it hit him in the ear. Other rounds entered the crowd behind the then-GOP candidate, wounding two and killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore.

Trump avoided a second assassination attempt just two months later in Florida, as U.S. Secret Service scared off suspect Ryan Routh before he could take a shot at Trump, who was golfing at his course in Palm Beach County. Authorities caught up with and arrested the would-be assassin after he ditched his AK-47 and took off in a vehicle.

As the Pope reminded his audience, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was critically wounded when he was shot by a would-be assassin in May while greeting some of his supporters in his country. Local authorities arrested the suspect.

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT'S DECISION TO DENY HIS REQUEST TO STOP SENTENCING, VOWS TO APPEAL

During the address, Francis said that these assassination attempts are the result of societies being further polarized by misinformation and media bias. 

"We see increasingly polarized societies marked by a general sense of fear and distrust of others and of the future, which is aggravated by the continuous creation and spread of ‘fake news,'" Francis declared, using the term that Trump made popular at the start of his political career.

The Pope added that fake news "not only distorts facts but also perceptions."

Following the attempts on his life, Trump blamed false rhetoric pushed by the left as what inspired the shootings against him. 

Speaking about the second would-be assassin, Trump told Fox News Digital last September, "He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it. Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

In his speech, Francis – who declared 2025 to be a special "Jubilee" year with the central theme of hope – called for mankind to mend the divisions in society that have led to these assassination attempts.

"My prayerful hope for this new year is that the jubilee may represent for everyone, Christians and non-Christians alike, an opportunity also to rethink the relationships that bind us to one another, as human beings and political communities," he expressed.