Pope came within minutes of dying

SPECULATION increased last night that the Pope may consider resigning, as it emerged that he came within minutes of death last week.

The Vatican’s number two official, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, appeared to distance himself from an earlier stance that the Pope would carry on in office, when he said it was a matter for the Pontiff himself to decide.

Cardinal Sodano, asked whether the Pope has thought about resigning, responded: “Let’s leave this hypothesis up to the Pope’s conscience.