Pope’s recovery confounds the pessimists

THE Pope confounded those who had his obituary ready to roll today when he ate a hearty breakfast and silently joked with aides only hours after undergoing surgery to ease another breathing crisis.

John Paul is breathing on his own and is not suffering from pneumonia, the Vatican said, taking pains to cast his condition in a positive light.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the frail 84-year-old spent a restful night at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, where doctors advised him not to speak for a few days.