Pope can still run Church if unable to speak, says Vatican

THE Pope can still run the Catholic Church even if he is unable to speak, a senior Vatican figure claimed yesterday.

As speculation continued that the ailing Pontiff might resign, Cardinal Mario Francesco Pompedda, prefect of a Vatican tribunal said in a newspaper interview: "It is sufficient that one's will be expressed, and be expressed in a clear way."

Cardinal Pompedda told La Stampa, "It can be expressed very well through writing, and in any case can be expressed also with clear and significant gestures."