Posted on 03/31/2005 9:54:01 PM PST by bd476
Edited on 04/02/2005 7:53:51 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
Prayers for Ioannes Paulus Magnus.
Yahoo News and Reuters:
Pope Appears Close to Death After Heart Failure
22 minutes ago Top Stories - Reuters
By Philip Pullella and Crispian Balmer
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul was in a "very grave" condition on Friday and appeared close to death after suffering heart failure, the Vatican said in a statement.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 84-year-old Pope had received the "Holy Viaticum" -- a special communion that is offered for those near death.
The Vatican statement said the Pope was still "conscious, lucid and tranquil" and had celebrated Mass with his close aides as dawn broke on Friday after deciding that he did not want to return to hospital for treatment.
Pope John Paul's fragile health took a sharp turn for the worse on Thursday evening as he developed a high fever caused by a urinary infection. After initially stabilizing, his condition then deteriorated further, the Vatican said.
"Yesterday afternoon ... following a urinary infection, a state of septic shock and cardio-circulatory collapse set in," the statement said. Septic shock is a life-threatening reaction to a severe infection.
"This morning, the Holy Father's health condition is very grave," the statement said.
The Pope has led the 1.1 billion-member Church for more than 26 years, revolutionizing his office and taking his sometimes controversial and conservative message far beyond the confines of the tiny Vatican state.
But his health has declined steadily over the past decade, worn down by debilitating Parkinson's disease. He has been seriously ill for most of the past two months and has failed to recover from recent throat surgery aimed at helping him breathe.
Doctors stayed at the Pope's side through the night and senior clergy rushed to the Vatican as the health crisis deepened.
POLISH PRAYERS
In churches in Krakow, Poland, where the Pope studied and served as archbishop, there were at least twice the usual number of faithful attending early morning Mass on Friday.
"I didn't sleep at all last night and I decided to come and pray again this morning before I went to work," said Teresa Ptak, about 60 years old, at St. Florian's church, where the young Karol Wojtyla did his first pastoral work.
"He has done so much for us that I wanted to do something for him. Today only our prayers can help him," said Ptak.
At the Vatican, a handful of pilgrims gathered beneath the Apostolic Palace, which contains the papal apartments, offering up silent prayers for his health.
Italian media reported that the Pope's temperature leapt to around 40 C (104 F) on Thursday afternoon and his blood pressure plunged, a day after doctors had inserted a feeding tube into his stomach in an attempt to boost his fading strength.
The third longest-serving pope in Roman Catholic history spent 28 days in Rome's Gemelli Hospital in two periods in February and March after suffering breathing crises.
Once dubbed the "Great Communicator," the Pope has been unable to speak in public since he last left hospital on March 13, with a tube to help him breathe inserted in his windpipe.
LEGACY
Images of a gaunt, pained John Paul, his body ravaged by Parkinson's disease and arthritis, have offered a stark, gloomy contrast to archive film of the sprightly, smiling Karol Wojtyla striding onto the world stage on October 16, 1978.
When the little-known archbishop of Krakow was elected pontiff, few could have predicted that the first non-Italian pope in nearly 500 years would throw off the stiff trappings of the papacy, travel the globe and leave his mark on history.
Historians say one of his major legacies will remain his role in the fall of communism in Europe in 1989.
Just over a decade later, the Pope fulfilled another of his dreams. He visited the Holy Land in March 2000, and, praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall, asked forgiveness for Catholic sins against Jews over the centuries.
He has seemed as much at ease lecturing dictators of the left and the right as he has telling leaders of world democracies that unbridled capitalism and globalization are no panacea for the world's post-Cold War problems.
But many Catholics, especially in the developed world, have taken issue with his hardline proclamations against contraception, abortion, married priests or women clergy.
When a Pope dies, cardinals from around the world are called to Rome to chose a successor at a conclave which starts in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel between 15 and 20 days after the death. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in the Vatican City, Andrew Stern in Chicago and Wojciech Zurawski in Krakow)
Bless your dad! Hopefully, the Holy Father can join him in his Popemobile. Oh, I am trying really hard to be optimistic, can't you tell? ;) Inside I am just so sad.
"But many Catholics, especially in the developed world, have taken issue with his hardline proclamations against contraception, abortion, married priests or women clergy"
Of COURSE, that (you fill in the blank) would have to crop up. I pray the next pope can be successful in converting the MSM!
Gotta have 'balance,' donchaknow...
Agree.
Hi Petronski,
Sorry, I'm in NO MOOD for balance from the likes of the MSM!
But I've got to close and catch some sleep.
G-night.
4am CST next update..
Don't mean to be rude, but right now we're still praying
for JPII's recovery. There'll be plenty of time for speculation if the need arises.
Not that it likely matters much, but is it true he is responding to the antibiotics- fever going down?
Does anybody know about that part?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374988/posts
Wonderful pictures here of the Pope.
I recall reading an article a few years ago about papal politics and who might be candidates. Seems like there is some pressure for a black pope - since africa has a strong, growing catholic population, it makes sense.
One bishop that fits that bill, evidently, is very conservative and oldschool when it comes to church matters. Not a New Ager at all. So maybe he will get the nod - I wish I remember his name though.
Why does the media keep referring to "last rites"? I haven't heard anyone in the Church call it that in 20 years at least. My wife has had "last" rites 3 times.
Thanks Meg.
Also was just reading how he has a stomach feeding tube, not an NG (nasal-gastric) feeding tube as I read somewhere else.
Thank you Meg.
You're always so thoughtful.
That was the report..since then the other things have happened..One doctor said it may be like a roller coaster..up and down, stabilized and crises in his weakened condition..They have not described his condition as critical(medical term)..but very serious or grave..
((((onyx))))
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