Ailing Pope forced to cancel audience

AILING Pope John Paul II was forced to miss his weekly public audience in the Vatican yesterday because of “intestinal problems”.

However, frail John Paul briefly addressed the pilgrims in a video link from his holiday home.

“I am sorry for not being with you,” John Paul said, speaking in a weak voice and slurring his words. “I carry you all in my heart and I bless you with affection.”

Officials have become increasingly concerned about the state of health of the 83-year-old pontiff who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. He stubbornly refuses to cut back on international pilgrimages and was so weak when he arrived in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, this month that he was unable to complete his first speech.

The Vatican said his latest illness was “mild” but that it decided to have Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, represent John Paul at the audience. He read the Pope’s speech and then led the crowd in applauding after John Paul spoke from Castel Gandolfo.

Pilgrims shouted “Viva il papa!”

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that the Pope became ill on Tuesday afternoon with intestinal problems and that on the advice of his doctors, had decided to scrap the audience. Pilgrims at the audience were later told John Paul would give blessings himself via video link from his residence at Castel Gandolfo. The Vatican gave no further details on John Paul’s condition or what the intestinal problems were.

The Pope has debilitating knee and hip ailments that have made it difficult for him to walk. His aides wheel him around in a throne-like chair for public appearances and to celebrate public Masses.

As recently as Sunday, however, John Paul had appeared to be in better form, speaking clearly to hundreds of pilgrims who had gathered at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the hills south of Rome. During that appearance, the Pope spoke of his plans to visit a Marian shrine at Pompeii, in southern Italy, on October 7.

In the middle of last month, the Pope started travelling to the Vatican for his audiences rather than hold them in the courtyard of Castel Gandolfo, which is smaller and warmer than the Vatican hall.

After his October 7 Pompeii visit, the Pope has a busy week surrounding the celebrations marking his 25 anniversary as pope, which will culminate with an evening Mass on October 16 in St Peter’s Square. Three days later, he is to preside over the beatification of Mother Teresa, the nun who devoted her life to caring for the destitute of Calcutta.