‘There have been unconfirmed reports over the years that the pope has prepared a resignation letter to be used in case he becomes unable to carry on
Pope John Paul was once known as the great communicator. But after Thursday’s throat operation, the Catholic Church and the world face the prospect of a Pontiff who […]
‘Pope John Paul II’s hospital stay “won’t be brief” and it will be weeks before he can speak again following last week’s tracheotomy, a Rome University doctor said in an interview published on Sunday.
“No one would dream of taking him out of hospital (now),” Giancarlo Cianfrone, an ear nose and throat professor, told Corriere della […]
‘As Pope John Paul II recovers from a tracheotomy during his second visit to the hospital this month, Roman Catholics around the world pray for the increasingly frail 84-year-old pope and ponder the church’s future without its long-term leader. Spiritual chief to the world’s estimated 1 billion Catholics since 1978, John Paul II is the […]
‘Pope John Paul II appears to be recovering well from a tracheotomy, the Vatican announced Friday, saying he has been told not to speak for now, but was breathing on his own and even eating: 10 small cookies and yogurt, along with caffe latte, for breakfast the day after surgery.
In an unusually detailed medical briefing […]
‘Pope John Paul II is very sick, but the crowds still come here to St. Peter’s Basilica mostly as tourists, not as people nervously awaiting the death of the pope.
“He’s come through so many times,” said the Rev. James F. Spera, 52, vice rector of College Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., […]
‘Pope John Paul II’s traditional Sunday blessing will be performed by an aide because of ill-health, but the Roman Catholic Church leader will follow the ceremony closely from his hospital room, the Vatican said.
Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the Vatican’s number three and “interior minister”, will lead the prayer and bless the crowds on behalf of the […]
‘Breaking a tradition he kept even after being shot two decades ago, Pope John Paul II will not lead Sunday prayers for the first time in his 26-year papacy as he recovers from a throat operation to help him breathe.
With the 84-year-old pontiff advised by attending physicians not to speak after surgery to insert a […]
‘After being shot in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, Pope John Paul II was said to beseech the Virgin Mary for strength and later credited her for “guiding” the bullet from making a fatal strike.
In a Rome hospital this week, the pontiff wrote a post-surgery message that ended with his Latin motto dedicated to Mary, […]
‘As Pope John Paul II struggles with his second health crisis in a month, he is displaying something not usually associated with the dignity and solemnity of his office: a sense of humor.
“What did they do to me?” was the quip Vatican aides say he scrawled on a piece of paper Friday after he woke […]