Pope promotes live-saving nurse

Pope Francis has promoted a Vatican nurse he credits with saving his life to be his ‘‘personal healthcare assistant’’, the first time such a role has been officially recognised.

Massimiliano Strappetti, 52, co-ordinator of the Vatican’s department of health and hygiene, will work alongside Francis’s personal physician. He has worked in the Vatican since 2002.

Francis, 85, credited Strappetti with saving his life by encouraging him to undergo colon surgery last year when others were advising alternative treatments for diverticulitis.

Strappetti previously worked with Francis’ predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

He will assist the pontiff in dealing with strained ligaments in his right knee, which have forced him to walk with a cane or use a

wheelchair. Francis is receiving laser and magnetic treatments for the painful problem.