A Pope Fading From the Scene
There have been blind popes and popes so sick they died within days of their coronation. And now there is a virtual pope, one who today will participate only symbolically in a cherished ritual of Roman Catholicism.
For the last two years, Pope John Paul II has been unable to walk or move easily. After an emergency throat operation last week, he can no longer talk, a condition that may or may not be permanent. And for the first time in a papacy of more than 26 years, the Vatican said Saturday, John Paul will neither appear nor utter prayers as part of the Sunday Angelus devotional.
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What does an increasingly incapacitated pope mean for the broader Catholic Church, the oldest and largest house of Christianity?Although most activities of the church can carry on normally without the intervention of the Holy See, the pope’s steady decline has forced him to delegate much authority to an ever-tightening, protective inner circle of senior officials. Even before his two emergency hospitalizations this month, the pope was seeing fewer visitors, writing fewer documents and slowing his once-formidable pace. It has become unlikely that any more bold initiatives, which once characterized this papacy, will be undertaken.
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