Pope's condition 'progressively improving'

Pope John Paul II is “progressively improving” and following the Roman Catholic Church’s activities daily, the Vatican said today, declining to set a date for his release from the hospital but suggesting he might leave before Easter.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the scar on John Paul’s throat after surgery to insert a breathing tube was healing. He said the frail, 84-year-old pontiff wants to go back to the Vatican, “but at the same time, he accepts doctors’ advice” not to rush back to the Holy See.

“In recent days, the pope has been receiving several of his collaborators with whom he daily follows the activity of the Holy See and the life of the church,” Navarro-Valls told reporters.

He said the Vatican would decide on Saturday what the Pope’s schedule for Sunday would be, and that the next medical bulletin was expected on Monday.

Asked whether the Pope might be back at the Vatican in time for Easter celebrations on March 27, Navarro-Valls said: “It’s possible.”

“The health of the Holy Father John Paul II continues to improve and show progress,” the spokesman said. “As previously stated, the Pope is eating regularly and spends several hours each day in an armchair. The surgical wound is healing.”

It said the Pope’s daily therapy to improve his ability to breathe and speak were continuing “with the active collaboration of the Holy Father.”