Las Vegas Sun
Today: January 31, 2005 at 14:05:27 PST

Pope Cancels Audiences After Getting Flu

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY (AP) –

Pope John Paul II has come down with the flu, forcing him to cancel
scheduled audiences for health reasons for the first time in more than a
year, the Vatican said Monday.

The frail, 84-year-old pontiff showed symptoms of influenza during his
regular appearance at noon Sunday in his apartment window overlooking St.
Peter’s Square, and doctors advised that he cut back on his activities,
papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

“He has joined the more than a million Italians who have come down with the
flu,” Navarro-Valls told The Associated Press.

Asked by Vatican Radio if it was a mild case, Navarro-Valls said, “Of
course.”

Navarro-Valls expressed caution, however, about when John Paul would resume
his regular activities. “We’ll see,” he told the radio. “As always with
influenza, it is a day-to-day question.”

There appeared to be no particular alarm in the Vatican City enclave.
Officials went about business as usual while Vatican Radio was quick to
issue its reassuring report.

Despite Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments, John Paul
has appeared in good form in recent months. He continues to receive foreign
leaders – the president of Armenia visited the Vatican last week and the
president of the European Parliament is due Friday – as well as appear
before pilgrims and tourists twice a week.

The last time the pope skipped an audience for illness was in September
2003, when he canceled his weekly public audience because of an intestinal
ailment. The last time when he was reported to have the flu came during a
trip to his native Poland in June 1999, when he skipped a Mass in Krakow,
disappointing a crowd of 1 million people.

This has been a particularly bitter winter in Rome – the city got a rare
dusting of snow last week – and the Italian Health Ministry has recommended
flu shots, particularly for the elderly, but it was not known if John Paul
had taken one. Vatican officials refused to say, citing the pope’s right to
privacy.

The Vatican makes brief announcements when the pope is ill, but rarely
provides details on the extent of the illness or any medicine he may be
taking.

Among activities scheduled for Monday was the presentation of the Vatican’s
yearbook, which Navarro-Valls said was simply turned over to him. Also on
the schedule were meetings with several bishops and foreign officials.

John Paul’s voice was weak but he was otherwise in good form during his
appearance Sunday when he tried to release a dove out of his apartment
window as a symbol of peace. He chuckled with children who watched in
delight as the bird flew back into the room overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

The pontiff was addressing thousands of young people from an Italian
Catholic organization that had marked January as a month to promote peace.

At his public audience each Wednesday, scores of faithful are brought up to
the stage to kiss the pope’s ring or shake his hand.