POPE JOHN PAUL HAS CANCER

GLOBE-INTEL ^ | 10/10/2003 | GORDON THOMAS

[kellynla]

Pope John Paul has inoperable stomach cancer which recently spread to his colon. A team of palliative medical specialists is now permanently based in the Papal Apartment in the Apostolic Palace.

They administer drugs to try and ensure the Pope will live to carry out the three climatic events of his 25 years on the Throne of St Peter.

They revolve around the anniversary of his election on Wednesday (October 16). The celebrations are planned to include the beatification of Mother Theresa and presiding over the consistory, or assembly, of cardinals, including the 31 he has just created.

But increasingly the Vatican is preparing the world’s 800 million Catholics for his impending death.

The Vatican will not discuss the specific details of the Pope’s medical condition or confirm the cancer diagnosis.

But in 1992, John Paul had major surgery to remove a large intestinal tumour which doctors diagnosed as cancerous. Two weeks ago, there was evidence that the disease had returned. Last Wednesday, the Vatican announced that John Paul’s regular general audience in St Peter’s Square was cancelled because the Pope had complained of “intestinal” problems.

A colonoscopy was performed. The first indication of the gravity of the situation came shortly afterwards. Two cardinals revealed that the 83 year-old Pope “is failing fast”.

The most explicit was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican. He said the Pope “is in a bad way”.

His decision to speak publicly was seen by the Curia, the structured hierarchal body which is the Holy See’s civil service, as proof it could be only a short time before they must prepare for the election of a new pontiff.

The Holy See’s diplomats and its papal nuncios were alerted to the situation by the Secretariat of State. Traditionally heads of the diplomatic corps of each nation where they are accredited, they told fellow ambassadors of the position.

In Ireland, as in other countries, they would also have discreetly briefed the government and President Mary McAleese.

Such briefings, especially those relating to the Pope’s ailing health, are discussed on a strictly need-to-know basis.

That was why Cardinal Ratzinger’s public pronouncement caused alarm bells to ring across the Catholic world.

Not only was it unexpected and unprecedented, but it was quickly followed by another prelate issuing a statement.

One of the newly appointed cardinals, Archbishop Phillipe Barbarin of Lyon, France, said “the Pope is reaching the end of his road and is really in bad shape”.

This weekend, candles are being lit and special prayers offered in cathedrals and churches around the world.

Cardinals have been told to be ready to fly to Rome at short notice. Several are already going there this coming week, possibly to be on hand to say their farewells.

Mgr George Gainswein, Cardinal Ratzinger’s secretary, said last Thursday that “His Holiness can no longer walk or stand. He is falling apart more and more each day”.

Yet, despite the evidence of his ever-more rapid deterioration, John Paul has continued to directly involve himself in what has been one of the pillars of his pontificate: human rights.

On Friday, he sent a message to his Papal Nuncio in Colombia that he wanted the local Church there to become directly involved trying to free British TV producer Mark Henderson, 31, and the six other hostages held by ELN, the country’s most ruthless terror group. The backpackers were kidnapped three weeks ago.

This weekend two priests are travelling deep into Colombia’s northern jungles to meet with the kidnappers and bring with them the Pope’s plea.

“They will tell them that it is the Holy Father’s great wish that these people be set free”, a Vatican source told me.

Four of the hostages are Israelis and the Pope’s intervention follows high level discussions between Ariel Sharon’s government and the Vatican’s “foreign minister”, Mgr Jean-Luis Tauran. He has just been made a cardinal – making 135 Princes of the Church who are now eligible to vote for a new pope.

Among them is the Pope’s senior private secretary, Mgr Stanislaw Dziwisz – first to become a cardinal while still serving as the Pope’s closest aide.

Glint-eyed, with an imperious nose and a sharp tongue, who can rebuke equally well in Polish, Italian, French and German, Dziwisz is the only non-medical person to freely come and go from the Pope’s bedroom overlooking St Peter’s Square.

There is a nubuliser by the Pope’s bedside to assist John Paul’s breathing. Trolleys dot the room laden with other medical equipment. They are in striking contrast to the prie-dieu John Paul brought with him from Krakow, along with a striking portrait of the Madonna.

Both are the only visible links with his past. There are no discernible mementos, souvenirs or keepsakes. The Pope insists on maintaining, as far as possible, his daily schedule. He awakes at 5.30am. Two Papal Attendants help him to dress. Then they wheel him to the apartment’s private chapel.

The two blue-suited Vigili, members of the Vatican security force, bow as the Pope passes.

Vigili have always stood guard over John Paul, even in the Papal Apartment, since that fearful day in May 1981 when an attempt was made to assassinate him in St Peter’s Square.

The apartment staff, nuns and secretaries, are joined by the medical team for the early morning Mass.

Afterwards, the Pope has breakfast and begins his work schedule. In between there are periods of rest.

For a man so seriously ill, even a curtailed schedule must have an effect on his health. But he has continued to resist pleas from his doctors to slow down.

“In so many ways, it is typical of him”, said Mgr Gainswein.

[bonfire]

"I am not a Catholic, but I consider him a honest and decent man, the kind the world needs more of, not less."


Amen to that.

[exile]

I was baptised Catholic, but consider myself an agnostic. (Hey, I don't have all the answers). However I have always respected and admired John Paul II. He is a great man.

[Rutles4Ever]

His "handlers"? Umm... that would be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit "handling" him.

[billhilly]

Still eating the Friday fish I see.

[AdA$tra]

We pray as this beautiful Pope passes that an equally Godly man takes over.Amen. That would always be the plan. I don't know why, but I have had a sense of foreboding about the passing of John Paul. Perhaps just the time of his passing, whatever that means. I hope I am wrong.

[AdA$tra]

I was baptised Catholic, but consider myself an agnostic. ......However I have always respected and admired John Paul II. He is a great man.

That is because you are Catholic at heart and are someday going to come back to the Church.

[A CA Guy]

We have much evil within the churches everywhere. I think that is the sign of end times. YIKES~

[apackof2]

His name will be known in a thousand years.

Do you really think we have a thousand years before Christ's return?

[AdA$tra]

We have much evil within the churches everywhere. I think that is the sign of end times. YIKES~

I have always SERIOUSLY believed that it would be so vain for us to think we were the generation to witness some sort of end times. So many of the "prophecy" crowd sound SOOOOO self-indulgent. It is as if they are privileged to see pain across all the earth in their insignificant lifetimes. I do get a bad vibe off of the end of this Popes reign, but I really don't think it is the "end of the world as we know it...I feel fine."

[A CA Guy]

I was being off hand, but the crud happening in churches is a sign of end times in the Bible.

PS: Every generation thinks they live in end times though.

[Rutles4Ever]

Once again, it's all about what makes YOU uncomfortable...

And, no, Christ never came down from the cross...

[Bigg Red]

This weekend two priests are travelling deep into Colombia’s northern jungles to meet with the kidnappers and bring with them the Pope’s plea.

“They will tell them that it is the Holy Father’s great wish that these people be set free”, a Vatican source told me.

&&
Oh, I am sure the terrorists will obey and set the hostages free. Heck, they'll probably even sent the pope a get-well card. Good heavens!

[billhilly]

I'll tell you what makes me uncomfortable. It is a religion that acts as a shield for pedophiles. Christ coming off of the cross had nothing to do with the Pope. His religion is called Christianity.

[Conservative til I die]

Even if his cancer is normal, the fact that his handlers continue to prop him up in obvious pain and discomfort is disgusting. My own father-in-law died of prostate cancer, and in the stages we now see the pope in, we were diapering him, not parading him around the world.

You show a clear misunderstanding of what is going on. The Pope is still in control of himself and the Vatican. Besides, the Pope's suffering is part of his ministry, that *all* life posesses dignity. Also, the Pope recognizes that he is doing God's work, and it's not JPs choice when he goes.

[Conservative til I die]

WHy do you come on these threads to kick up $h!t and be a troublemaker? Do you have any sense of propriety, courtesy, or even shame?

[billhilly]

Frankly, I think you are a flaming nut, and I have as much right here as you do. I have read your profile and it tells me, in your own words, that it is you who is an in your face antagonist.

You won't get the pleasure of an all night argument with me, but I hope you find whatever it is that you are looking for. Somehow, I doubt that you will.

[Conservative til I die]

Frankly, I think you are a flaming nut, and I have as much right here as you do. I have read your profile and it tells me, in your own words, that it is you who is an in your face antagonist.

Oh, just give me a break already. Shouting other people down as "flaming nuts" and going off on some tangent about having a right to be here - Hint: You don't have a right to be here. Neither do I. We're here because the board's owner allows us to be. And besides, who was questioning your right to be here? Oy vey! - isn't going to get you anywhere on this board.

I quite rightly questioned your motives here, taking on the belligerent tone you've amplified in your last post to me and needlessly bringing up pedophilia on a thread where 98% of the people are wishing John Paul II the best in his current ill state.

If you feel the need to play the pedophile card, feel free to go start a thread elsewhere on the forum.

It's not appropriate, and isn't wanted here.