Joannes Paulus II
Posted on 04/01/2005 6:58:07 PM PST by CarrotAndStick
DUBLIN: Pope John Paul signaled he is ready to die by choosing not to return to hospital, his former private secretary said on Friday.
"The fact that he has not gone back to hospital is (shows) that he is serenely carrying the cross and ready to give up and to say 'It is finished'," said John Magee, Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, who worked for the Pope for nine years and was with him during an assassination attempt in 1981.
The 84-year-old Pope appeared close to death on Friday after deteriorating dramatically following the heart attack, septic shock and a urinary tract infection although the Vatican said he was still conscious and in a stable but serious condition.
John Paul II is "fully conscious," lucid and "extremely serene," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said at noon, adding that he had received his closest advisers in separate meetings at his bedside.
But a visibly moved Navarro-Valls, the papal spokesman for over 20 years, made no attempt to hide his concern, even as thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square to pray for the 84-year-old pope in what many believe to be his final hours.
"I'm trembling because I can feel that this time he may not make it," said Maria Abbate, a 50-year-old Italian woman standing in the large sun-filled St. Peter's square. "The fact that he did not go to hospital means that he is ready to die," said Abbate.
"I'm sad about the state of his health because he was committed to humanity," Daniel Mamdouh, a Catholic of mixed Italian and Egyptian heritage, said. "He is an example for everybody because he shows a lot of strength and courage."
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's Vicar for Rome, said he had seen John Paul II after his latest crisis on Friday morning and painted a picture of a pope serenely awaiting his end.
"I found him profoundly serene and lucid," he said after spending a few minutes with the pontiff, who has reigned over the world's 1.1 billion Catholics for 26 years.
The Pope believes divine intervention saved him from death, guiding the bullet that hit him away from his vital organs.
"He's always been ready to die," Magee said.
"Now that he knows that he is coming to the end of his earthly existence he is looking forward to the reward that is certainly his for having been such a faithful servant of the Lord," Magee said.
The bishop, who held the hand of Pope Paul VI as he died, said Pope John Paul would be surrounded by those close to him.
"With John Paul II, I am sure there is somebody there holding his hand, assuring him that we are with him, we are journeying with him to that moment when he will see the Risen Lord before him."
6 Quanto a me, sto per essere offerto in libagione, e il tempo della mia dipartita è vicino.
7 Ho combattuto il buon combattimento, ho finito la corsa, ho serbato la fede.
8 Per il resto, mi è riservata la corona di giustizia che il Signore, il giusto giudice, mi assegnerà in quel giorno, e non solo a me, ma anche a tutti quelli che hanno amato la sua apparizione.
2 Timoteo 4:6-8
Joannes Paulus II
That was posted yesterday...sleeping under the puter table again ehh?
Yes. Sorry.
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