Pope in 'very serious condition' late Thursday

[MegaRock]

Pope John Paul II's medical condition has worsened, the Italian news agency Apcom reported Thursday night, citing unidentified sources. The Vatican neither confirmed nor denied the report. The Vatican's only news released said "news reports are being strictly controlled at this time".

Apcom said doctors had to intervene because of a "worrying lowering of [blood] pressure."

A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of such a worsening in the pontiff's health and that at least a few hours ago, the pope's situation was "regular."

Although public appearances by the pope are generally seen as a sign of sustained health, when John Paul II appeared at his studio window Wednesday, he cast the opposite impression. His hands shaking, the pope strained his voice, but let out nothing but a muffled gurgle.

In another sign of his increasing frailty, the pope has begun receiving nutrition through a feeding tube in his nose, the Vatican said, acknowledging the pope's recovery from surgery last month has been "slow."

In a statement Wednesday, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said John Paul had been outfitted with a nasogastric tube to "improve the calorie intake and favor an effective recovery of strength."

John Paul's brief appearance at his studio window Wednesday was his second unsuccessful attempt to speak to the crowds in St. Peter's Square that week.

After managing just a rasp of his voice, he blessed well-wishers by making the sign of the cross with his hand and withdrew.

On Easter Sunday, the other appearance, mass was tinged with sadness, CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports. On the day when John Paul usually blesses the world in sixty languages, he could not utter a single intelligible word.

[MegaRock]

Pope John Paul II suffered heart failure and was in "very grave" condition Friday, but he was lucid and spent the morning celebrating Mass and receiving top aides.

The Vatican denied a report that he was in a coma.

Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls choked up with tears as he told reporters about the pope's worsening condition. He said the 84-year-old pontiff had been "informed of the gravity of his situation" and rather than be hospitalized, he decided to stay in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square, where thousands of pilgrims gathered to pray for him.

John Paul participated in Mass and received some top aides in the morning, Navarro-Valls said.

"The pope is still lucid, fully conscious and extraordinarily serene," Navarro-Valls said. He said the pope had unstable blood pressure and remained in "very grave" condition.

The critically ill pope appointed a large number of bishops and other church officials, the Holy See said in an afternoon statement that gave no new information about his condition.

Among the top church officials who gathered at his bedside was Archbishop Paolo Sardi, the Vatican vice chamberlain who runs the Holy See between the death of a pope and the election of a new one.

Thousands stood vigil on the square outside, many tearfully gazing up at his third-floor window.

In a measure of how widely felt the pope's situation is, the Vatican received its first official communication from China in 50 years expressing sympathy and support for the pope, reports CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Prayers are also being offered in Rome's mosques and, of course, at Catholic churches around the world.

[Mattress]

in rome's mosques? are muslims praying for the pope?

[MegaRock]

Oddly enough, yes.

"Muslims in France were praying for the pontiff because he was a “man of peace,” said Dalil Boubakeur, president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith."

[zootm]

Muslims get a lot more bad press than they deserve, as I'm sure most people here are aware.

[bgesley]

I wonder how many news agencies will post Nostradamus's quatrain that the pope after this one will be the pope in the armageddon.

[Mattress]

got a link for that?

[MegaRock]

http://www.crystalinks.com/quatrains.html

[shakey_snake]

Originally posted by Mattress
in rome's mosques? are muslims praying for the pope?

Allah calls Christians and Jews "People of the Book" in the Quran, and gives Muhammad special instruction to respect them.

[MegaRock]

Catholics in St. Peter's Square and around the world are praying for Pope John Paul II as he clings to life Friday in his Vatican apartment. His breathing is shallow and his heart and kidneys failing, the Vatican said, but he has not lost consciousness.

Despite his failing health, the pope himself decided not to return to the hospital, reports CBS News Correspondent Manuel Gallegus. Instead he has chosen apparently to live out his final moments in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square.

"This evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope,'' Angelo Comastri, the pope's vicar general for Vatican City, told the crowd.

[bgesley]

Is it against Vatican Law/Catholicism/whatever for the Pope to relinquish his power and have an election instead? Is it a rule that all popes must die in order a new pope to be sworn in?

And for some reason I can't stop thinking about the book Angels and Demons.

[MegaRock]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html