Pope strives to greet Slovaks in testing trip
The frail 83-year-old pope, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and crippling hip and knee ailments, appeared short of breath and read his arrival remarks in a slurred voice.
Just one paragraph into the speech, he lost his place and asked an aide to read most of the rest before finishing the last paragraph himself, correcting himself several times for stumbling on words. On other foreign visits, aides have read portions of his speeches for the pope, but never his arrival texts.
