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.