'Pope spoke to me'
2005-03-01 15:09
Rome - Top Vatican cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said Pope John Paul II, reported to have lost his voice following a throat operation, had been able to speak to him during a brief meeting at Rome's Gemelli hospital on Tuesday and had appeared "very alert".
Ratzinger, the influential German head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told reporters the pope had spoken to him in Italian and German.
"I went to visit him and brought him some work from our congregation. The Holy Father spoke to me in German and Italian. He appeared very alert and he will work on the things I brought him," said Ratzinger, one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican government.
Asked by journalists if the pope had really been able to use his voice, Ratzinger replied: "Certainly."
"We didn't go into detail, but spoke only about the essential things," he said.
- AFP