Frail Pope vows to continue his mission

POPE John Paul II vowed yesterday to continue his mission despite his latest health crisis, telling the faithful from the hospital in a message read by an archbishop that he was grateful for their prayers and affection.

"Also in this hospital, in the middle of other sick people to whom my affectionate thoughts go out, I can continue to serve the church and the entire humanity," the 84-year-old Pope said from Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic hospital in remarks read in Italian by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, a Vatican official from Argentina.

An alert-looking John Paul appeared in an open window of the hospital next to the archbishop, giving the world its first glimpse of him since he was rushed to the hospital last Tuesday with breathing trouble brought on by the flu.