Pope on the mend - Vatican
2005-02-28 13:45
Vatican City - Pope John Paul II is recovering without complications and has started breathing and voice therapy, the Vatican said Monday, a day after the pope surprised the faithful with a brief appearance in a hospital window.
The Holy See said the 84-year-old pope has been eating regularly and spending some time sitting in an armchair. It did not say how long he would remain in hospital after undergoing surgery last week to insert a tube in his throat to ease his second breathing crisis in less than a month.
The Vatican handed out the brief medical update to reporters, and papal spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls was not present to offer any elaboration.
John Paul's appearance on Sunday - his first since last Thursday's operation - came just moments after a Vatican official outside St Peter's Basilica read the pontiff's appeal for prayers.
The pope appeared for only a minute and didn't speak, but he sent a powerful message amid concerns that his latest health crisis would leave him incapacitated and unable to carry on as leader of a billion Roman Catholics.
John Paul looked alert, raising hopes he was making progress following the surgery. His appearance also was a sign of his personal determination, after the Vatican had announced he would skip his weekly blessing - a 26-year tradition he didn't miss even after he was shot in 1981 and was recovering from an operation in 1992.
The pope spent 10 days in the hospital earlier in February with breathing problems that stemmed from the flu. His relapse led some to question whether he had been released too soon.
- AP