Pope’s condition remains ‘very grave’

Posted 4/2/2005 7:28 AM

VATICAN CITY (AP) ‘ Pope John Paul II showed the first signs of losing
consciousness at dawn on Saturday, the Vatican said, as priests around
the world prepared the Roman Catholic faithful for his passing.

A postcard of Pope John Paul II is seen at a shop with St. Peter’s
Basilica in the background Saturday in Vatican City. By Luca Bruno,
AP

But John Paul, 84, was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken
to, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

The pope’s health began deteriorating Thursday after he suffered a
urinary tract infection. In its latest statement the Vatican, which
earlier described his heart and kidneys as failing, said his condition
was unchanged and “very grave.”

Navarro-Valls said the pope was still speaking late Friday but did not
take part when Mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.

“Since dawn this morning there have been first signs that
consciousness is being affected,” he said.

“Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but
when you speak to him, he opens his eyes,” Navarro-Valls said.

He said aides had told the pope that thousands of young people were in
St. Peter’s Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the pope
appeared to be referring to them when he seemed to say: ‘”I have
looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.'”

Vatican cardinal Achille Silvestrini visited John Paul Saturday
morning, accompanied by another cardinal, Jean-Louis Tauran.

“I found him relaxed, placid, serene. He was in his bed. He was
breathing without labor. He looked like he lost weight,” Silvestrini
said.

He said the when he and Tauran came into the room, the pope seemed to
recognize them.

List of known and previous papal ailments

A list of the current known ailments afflicting Pope John Paul II:

Breathing problems that forced him to undergo surgery Feb. 24 to
insert a tube in his throat to aid respiration.

High fever from a urinary tract infection that also reportedly caused
his blood pressure to fall.

Feeding tube to provide him with additional nutrition because of
problems swallowing.

Parkinson’s disease, affecting speech, mobility and posture, for at
least a decade.

Knee and hip ailments that make it impossible to stand.

Past ailments

2002: Arthritis of the knee forced several appearances to be canceled.

1996: Inflamed appendix removed.

1994: Breaks leg in a fall, undergoes hip replacement surgery.

1993: Dislocates right shoulder in fall at the Vatican. 1992:
Operation for benign tumor on colon.

1981: Shot in abdomen and hand by Turkish gunman in St. Peter’s
Square, later hospitalized again for infection linked to the wounds.

Source: The Associated Press

“The pope showed with a vibration of his face that he understood,
indicating with a movement of his eyes. He showed he was reacting,” he
added.

For a second day, the Vatican announced a series of papal appointments
including a Spanish bishop, an official of the Armenian Catholic
Church and ambassadors to El Salvador and Panama.

One of the pope’s closest aides, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was quoted
Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning,
John Paul was “aware that he is passing to the Lord.”

The pope “gave me the final farewell,” the news agency of the Italian
bishops conference quoted the German cardinal as saying Friday night.

Tourists and pilgrims streamed anew into St. Peter’s Square on
Saturday, and around the world, priests prepared Roman Catholics for
the pope’s death. Many expressed hope that his final hours would be
peaceful.

“Now he prepares to meet the Lord,” Cardinal Francis George said at a
Mass in Chicago on Friday. “As the portals of death open for him, as
they will for each of us … we must accompany him with our own
prayers.”

A workman in the square, declining to give his name, told The
Associated Press that crews were taking down the canopy on the steps
of St. Peter’s Basilica, which had covered an altar during Easter
Sunday Mass. They said they had orders to clear the space for when the
pope’s coffin eventually is carried into the square.

Several cardinals from the United States and Latin America said they
were heading to Rome. After the official mourning period following the
death of a pope, cardinals hold a secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to
choose a successor.

The Il Secolo XIX newspaper of Genoa reported that the pope, with the
help of his private secretary Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, wrote a
note to his aides urging them not to weep for him.

“I am happy, and you should be as well,” the note reportedly
said. “Let us pray together with joy.”

However, Navarro-Valls said he couldn’t confirm the report, even after
speaking to the pope’s secretary.

As word of his deteriorating condition spread across the globe,
special Masses celebrated the pope for transforming the Roman Catholic
Church during his 26-year papacy and for his example in fearlessly
confronting death.

Hospitalized twice last month after breathing crises, and fitted with
a breathing tube and a feeding tube, John Paul has become a picture of
suffering.

His papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to
respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles
Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments. The pope also
survived a 1981 assassination attempt, when a Turkish gunman shot him
in the abdomen.

In Washington, the White House said President Bush and his wife were
praying for the pope and that the world’s concern was “a testimony to
his greatness.”

Cardinal Marcio Francesco Pompedda, a high-ranking Vatican
administrator, visited the pope Friday morning and said he opened his
eyes and smiled.

“I understood he recognized me. It was a wonderful smile ‘ I’ll
remember it forever. It was a benevolent smile ‘ a father-like smile,”
Pompedda told RAI television. He told the Milan daily Il Giornale the
pope was lying in bed propped up by pillows, and twice tried but
failed to say something.

“There were various tubes, and an intravenous drip, but I confess that
I didn’t dwell on these details,” said Pompedda, adding that the pope
appeared to be “suffering but serene.”

John Paul’s health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high
fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and
heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.

Septic shock involves both bacteria in the blood and a consequent
over-relaxing of the blood vessels. The vessels, which are normally
narrow and taut, get floppy in reaction to the bacteria and can’t
sustain any pressure. That loss of blood pressure is catastrophic,
making the heart work hard to compensate for the collapse.

Dr. Gianni Angelini, a professor of cardiac surgery at Bristol
University in England, said the chances of an elderly person in John
Paul’s condition surviving septic shock more than 48 hours was no more
than 20%, “but that would be in an intensive care unit with very
aggressive treatment.”