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]
From Rome CBS Radio News: (rough transcription of update)
The Vatican has been transparent in allowing news media access to information about Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II is responsible for the change in how the Vatican views the media.
At this time, Pope John Paul II's condition is unchanged.
His heart and kidneys are failing. The Vatican said that this does not suggest that he is suffering.
He has a compromised state of consciousness, yet he is not in a comatose state.
He drifts in and out of consciousness. One Vatican source said that it appeared that the Pope is resting with his eyes shut.
Pope John Paul II has responded by opening his eyes when spoken to. He has also tried to speak in the past few hours.
An Aide assisted Pope John Paul II in writing a message to his beloved staff gathered in the Papal apartment. The Pope asked them not to be sad for him.
____________________
Pope John Paul II has suffered a cardiac arrest and is in a grave condition, the Vatican has announced.
The urgent communique came hours after the Pope's health worsened with a high fever caused by an infection.
"Following a urinary tract infection, septic shock and a cardiocirculatory collapse occurred," Vatican spokesman Navarro-Valls said in his statement.
The Pope was also given the last rites - the Catholic sacrament for the sick and dying, the spokesman said.
But he said the pontiff remained "conscious, lucid and tranquil".
The emergency department chief at Rome's Gemelli hospital said on Thursday the Pope would not be taken to hospital for the time being.
Some observers said this suggested it meant he was too weak to be moved at all.
Sombre mood
Small groups of faithful gathered at St Peter's Square in Rome to pray for the Pope's speedy recovery.
However, the mood in the Vatican is sombre, the BBC's David Willey in Rome reports.
Prelates are openly expressing pessimism about the possibility of the Pope ever resuming the guidance of his one billion-strong church, our correspondent says.
The pontiff is being fed through a nasal tube to aid his recovery from throat surgery last month.
The Pope had appeared briefly at the window of his Vatican apartment on Easter Sunday to bless the faithful, but was not able to speak.
It was the first time during his 26-year pontificate that the Pope delegated the main Easter ceremonies to his cardinals.
'Lost weight'
On Thursday afternoon, the Pope's temperature soared to 40 degrees C (104F), Italian media reported.
He developed breathing troubles and has difficulty in swallowing as a result of the progress of Parkinson's Disease, an incurable condition from which he has been suffering for nearly a decade.
Since his throat surgery, he has lost about 19 kg (42 lb), Father Hejmo said, which leaves him more vulnerable to infections.
The Pope's private doctor Renato Buzzetti is in charge of his medical treatment in his private apartment at the Vatican.
So far this year the Pope has had two spells in hospital where he received treatment for breathing problems and underwent an operation on his throat.
me too
It is 11:39 p.m. in Rome -- CNN has the time on the bottom corner of their report. Good thing because I would have no idea what time it was there.
you are a good person
I am glad you posted that -- Robert Monihan read it on the air as it had been read to the Pope this morning.
The next statement from the Vatican may well be "the one".
Interesting how the process of announcement goes:
When the pope dies, the prefect of the papal household (Bishop James Harvey) informs the camerlengo or chamberlain who must verify his death in the presence of the papal master of ceremonies, the cleric prelates of the Apostolic Camera, and the secretary of the Apostolic Camera who draws up a death certificate. As late as 1903, at the death of Leo XIII, this was done by striking the forehead of the pope with a silver hammer. It may also have been used on John XXIII. One colleague remembers a picture in Life magazine (which I have not had time to look for) in 1958 showing Cardinal Tisserant, then Dean of the College of Cardinals, striking the dead Pope on the forehead and asking, three times, "Eugenio, are you dead?" after each stroke, before saying: "I declare that His Holiness Pope Pius XII is truly dead". The camerlengo (Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo) tells the vicar of Rome (Cardinal Camillo Ruini) of the pope’s death and the vicar then informs the people of Rome. Meanwhile the prefect of the papal household tells the dean (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) of the college of cardinals who informs the rest of the college, the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, and the heads of nations. Although this is the formal procedure, in fact most people will first hear of the death of the pope from the media. The camerlengo locks and seals the private apartment of the pope. In the past looting of papal apartments by his staff, the cardinals or the Roman populace was a common custom. Today popes are more concerned that their private papers not get into the wrong hands. If the pope writes a will, the executor he appoints will take care of his private property and his private papers. This executor is answerable only to the next pope. The pope’s Fisherman’s ring and his seal are broken to symbolize the end of his reign and to prevent forgeries. No autopsy is performed, which can lead to wild media speculation if the pope dies suddenly as occurred with John Paul I.
Oh, good.
Only a few mintes to go.
LOL
This Pope is so incredible even as the hours of his life on Earth are winding down.
Living in Italy in 76 thru 79 I was witness to this process for Paul VI, then repeated upon the death of John Paul I within days.......Prayers for John Paul II......
Thanks for the update BD476 ~
Stay safe !
I wish I was as good as my intentions!
I suspect we will hear from the Vatican right after midnight local time to confirm his death.
I have watching the clock for the last hour as the minutes tick slowly by until April 2nd in Rome. This has been a long hour, but fortunately CNN has had some very interesting guests. Feel like I am glued to this chair as I watch events today.
Holding on until First Saturday? It would be like him.
Don't we all
You know he knows that he is setting an example...how marvelous to show us how to die a holy death, just as he showed us how to carry chronic debilitating illness.
Prayers offered up thanking the Lord for the life and legacy of this great humanitarian.
We're on the same page regarding April 2.
Is there a significance of April 2?
I think you are right. This morning Robert Monihan had heard from his sources inside the Vatican that they expected the announcement sometime after midnight in Rome and at the time Monihan almost broke down in tears.
Twelve minutes left until April 2, 2005.
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