It is almost impossible to know what really goes on behind the scenes at a place as secretive as the Vatican. Running the worldwide Catholic Church, with its more than 1 billion members, is obviously an enormous undertaking, and the important decisions are made by a few powerful clerics, headed, of course, by Pope John Paul. But the pontiff is 83 years old and not in good health. For Americans concerned about the declining image of the church in this country, the question of the Pope's competency is crucial. With that in mind, I recently traveled to Vatican City and...