AP via Fox: Pope's Health Worsens ("Italian Press: Pope receives last rites")

Apcom said doctors had to intervene because of a "worrying lowering of (blood) pressure."

This comes after yesterday's announcement that Pope John Paul II was getting nutrition from a feeding tube through the nose, shortly after the frail pontiff appeared at his window in St. Peter's Square and unsuccessfully tried to speak.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the tube was aimed at improving the pope's calorie intake. It was not visible when the pope made his appearance.

Navarro-Valls issued the first medical report on John Paul since March 11, two days before he was discharged from the hospital for the second time in a month. The update came amid media reports saying the pope might be hospitalized again to insert a feeding tube in his stomach because of problems swallowing food.

The statement Wednesday said John Paul spends "many hours" seated in an armchair, celebrates Mass in his private chapel and has work contacts with his aides "following directly the activities of the Holy See and the life of the Church."

It said the pope continues "his slow and progressive convalescence" and that public audiences remain suspended.

It also said medical assistance is guaranteed by the Vatican medical staff under the direction of the pope's personal physician, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, an apparent reference to reports that outside medical help has been called in.

Navarro-Valls made the announcement shortly after the pope appeared at his studio window and blessed thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square.

The ailing pontiff raised his hand in blessing and made the sign of the cross as a Vatican official read greetings and prayers.

The pope looked alert during the appearance, his first since Easter Sunday. A microphone that had been readied by papal aides was quickly removed after the pontiff unsuccessfully tried to say a few words.

This article's about an hour old:

Vatican mood pessimistic on full Pope recovery
31 Mar 2005 19:58:39 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds quote from Vienna's cardinal)

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, March 31 (Reuters) - Vatican officials are increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for Pope John Paul's full recovery from his ailments, with many agreeing that he has entered a new and perhaps final phase of his long papacy.

The 84-year-old Pope has been convalescing from throat surgery for more than a month now and aides say he is disappointed by the slow pace of his recovery.

The Vatican sources, all clerics who work in the Vatican, spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday about the mood inside the tiny city-state where the Pope is supreme sovereign.

Speaking a day after doctors began feeding the Pontiff via a tube in his nose, they expressed various shades of pessimism.

"We are on standby for anything," one priest who works in an important Vatican department said.

"Hardly anyone thinks the situation will improve but everyone is hoping for a miracle," he said.

Doctors on Wednesday inserted a feeding tube through the Pope's nose and into his stomach to try to boost his strength and help his recovery.

"If you add up Parkinson's disease, his age, his previous stomach operations, his breathing difficulties, his digestive problems, it makes for a pretty grim picture," the priest said.

Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the Pope was "approaching, as far as a person can tell, the end of his life," the Austrian news agency APA reported.

The Pope has difficultly swallowing because Parkinson's Disease limits muscle movement. He has had a breathing tube, known as a cannula, in his throat since Feb. 24.

The cannula is expected to be permanent. The nasal feeding tube is expected to be temporary but if he does not regain the ability to eat normally it may have to be replaced with a permanent tube inserted directly into his stomach.

A DISAPPOINTED POPE

"I know the Pope is very disappointed with the progress of his rehabilitation and would like it to be much faster," said another source, a Vatican monsignor.

"This is a new phase in this papacy," the source said, adding the Pope would most likely have to face what looks set to be "a permanent state of precarious health".

The source said the Pope was still being briefed on Church business and was able "to communicate both in writing and speaking".

Shortly before the feeding tube was inserted on Wednesday, the Pope dramatically failed in his efforts to speak in public for the second time in four days.

But the monsignor said the Pope has been able to speak in private, otherwise he would not have asked for a microphone on both occasions.

"Everyone here is worried," said another cleric.

All four Vatican sources said the Pope was still lucid and alert despite his physical difficulties.

"No one is trying to pull the wool over his eyes," one of the monsignors said.

A Vatican statement on Wednesday was at pains to say the Pope was still in charge.

The statement said the Pope was spending "many hours of the day" in an armchair, celebrating Mass in his private chapel, and was in "working contact with his aides, directly following the activity of the Holy See and the Church".

The Pope underwent a tracheotomy on Feb. 24 in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he spent a total of 28 days in two stints in February and March. (Additional reporting by Marcus Kabel)

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Report: Pope's Condition Has Worsened