Pope 'in death throes'

2005-04-01 21:45

Mexico City - "We are now in a pre-death phase because the pope is on the verge of death," Vatican health minister and Mexican Cardinal Javier Lozano said on Televisa.

"I just spoke with the Vatican physicians and they say that now there is no going back," Lozano said by telephone.

"It is going very badly," he added, noting that the pope had been conscious until a short time earlier with aides praying at his bedside.

"The pope is really in his death throes," Lozano said.

Lozano added that there had been considerable confusion in Vatican City, but didn't elaborate. The Vatican earlier reported that Pope John Paul II's condition showed that he had no hope for survival and had lost consciousness, according to a medical expert cited by ANSA.

Shortly beforehand, Sky Italia television said the 84-year-old pontiff had lost consciousness.

Anaesthetist Vincenzo Carpino told ANSA that "in these conditions, there is no hope and there is a loss of consciousness".

He added: "The clinical framework described is that of a functional insufficiency of all the organs."

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's Vicar for Rome, told a congregation including Italian government officials and diplomats that the pope's faith "is so strong and so full...that he is already seeing and touching the Lord".

Pope John Paul II was clinging to life in deteriorating condition, with his breath shallow and his kidneys not functioning properly after suffering heart trouble, the Vatican said.

"The general conditions and cardio-respiratory conditions of the Holy Father have further worsened," the Vatican said in a statement issued at 18:30.

"The clinical picture indicates cardio-circulatory and renal insufficiency," it said.

"The Holy Father - with visible participation - is joining in the continual prayers of those assisting him," said the communique issued by papal spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

- AP