Pope receives final communion
2005-04-01 08:22
Vatican City - Pope John Paul II received holy communion for the dying after suffering a heart attack and going into septic shock, the Vatican said on Friday.
"This morning the health of the Holy Father is very serious," Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
"Following a urinary tract infection, septic shock with a cardio-circulatory collapse occurred," he said.
The 84-year-old pontiff was "conscious, lucid and serene," however.
"At 19:17 on Thursday he received the Saint Viaticum (holy communion)," the spokesperson said, referring to the rites administered to the ill when approaching death.
Medical staff are treating the pope at the Vatican. The spiritual leader of one billion Roman Catholics had refused to return to Rome's Gemelli clinic, where he was hospitalised twice in the past two months.
"The Holy Father's wish to remain in his home was respected, where complete and efficient medical assistance was assured," said the spokesperson.
- AFP