Pope under doctor's orders
2004-04-14 13:12
Vatican City - On the advice of his doctor, Pope John Paul II did not read out his prepared speech at his weekly audience on Wednesday, a Vatican's official said.
"He accepted the advice of his personal doctor after his punishing schedule during Easter week, not to personally read the text of his speech for the weekly audience," Joaquin Naravrro-Valles told reporters at the Vatican.
The pope arrived for the one-hour ceremony in Saint Peter's square looking tired. He toured the square in an open-top vehicle and waved to the crowd of worshippers.
Aides stepped in to read the pope's text, but at the end of the audience John Paul delivered the prepared greetings to well-wishers in a number of different languages, speaking in a clear voice as he addressed a packed St Peter's Square.
The pontiff, who will be 84 next month, suffers from Parkinson's disease.