Pope 25th celebrations start

2003-10-15 18:20

Vatican City - Thousands of Roman Catholic pilgrims packed Saint Peter's Square on Wednesday for Pope John Paul II's weekly audience, as celebrations to mark his 25 years on the papal throne got underway.

The hunched-over pope, crippled by Parkinson's disease that has severely restricted his movement, waved to cheering pilgrims as he was driven in a small vehicle around the square in front of Saint Peter's Basilica.

Reading from a script, the seated pope, his face contorted as he struggled for words, read a message of welcome and prayed with the estimated 16 000 hushed pilgrims from around the world.

Concerns over the health of the frail 83-year-old have lent a sombre tone to the 25th anniversary celebrations, as the pope fights against an increasingly debilitating and degenerative disease.

Despite questions being asked over whether, or at what stage, the pope should step down - something he has resolutely insisted he will not do - his popularity has shown no sign of waning among his thousands of devotees.

No sadness

"We've all been praying for the pope but I can't say there's an atmosphere of sadness," said Sister Mary, who had journeyed to Rome with a group from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Paisley, Scotland. "It's more anticipation."

"He's certainly not improving," added another follower, Sister Pierra, a nun in her 60s who used to work with a mission in India but is now based in Rome.

"But there is no sadness. We are just grateful to God for the gift he has given us with this pope. The sentiment here is one of deep respect and of gratitude," she added, with a heartfelt: "We love him!"

Hundreds of pilgrims from John Paul II's native Poland waved flags and applauded as the husky and slurring pope sighed on finishing one address.

But despite their pain at seeing the pope struggling so, many said his courage only gave them more admiration for the man who has led the world's more than one billion Catholics for the last quarter century.

- AFP