Vatican City --
In remarks published Tuesday, a close aide of Pope John Paul II said
that the pontiff is "in a bad way," confirming the pope's visible struggle
with declining health.
But Vatican officials played down the statement, saying that the pontiff's
health had not worsened suddenly and that his busy October schedule of public
appearances remains unchanged.
The German weekly Bunte quoted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as saying, "We
should pray for the pope." One of Ratzinger's assistants, Monsignor Georg
Gaenswein, confirmed Ratzinger's words, but said the comments were not meant
to sound an alarm.
Ratzinger made his remarks on Sept. 22, when a group of German brewers
requested a private audience with John Paul, Gaenswein said. Ratzinger, who is
German, explained to the brewers that an audience would not be possible given
the need for the pope to conserve his energy.
"We all have to pray for the pope," Gaenswein said. "That is something that
can be said anytime."
In Ratzinger's published comments, he indicated he believed the pope's
schedule is too heavy given his physical problems. "That is probably the case,
" he was quoted as saying. Ratzinger heads the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith, the Vatican department in charge of regulating orthodoxy.
Federico Lombardi, an official with Vatican radio, told reporters, "I don't
think Cardinal Ratzinger has confidential or secret news to tell."
Although the Vatican gives only the sketchiest details of the pope's health,
it has become plain that his problems coping with age, apparent Parkinson's
disease and hip ailments, and loss of stamina are chronic rather than episodic.
Bouts of exhaustion dogged him during his recent trip to Slovakia. He could
not stand or walk.
The 83-year-old pope canceled his appearance at a general audience last
Wednesday, although he appeared via video from his vacation home at Castel
Gandolfo.
One fear in parts of the church is that the pope could go into a coma and
create a kind of constitutional crisis in the Vatican. There is no equivalent
of a vice president and no mechanism to replace a pope if he is still alive,
however incapacitated.
In such a situation, major decisions requiring a papal signature, such as
the appointment of bishops, could not be made. "I worry that we would be left
rudderless," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Catholic magazine
America, published in the United States.
The Vatican press office answered queries about the pope's health Tuesday
by noting he is scheduled to attend the customary Wednesday public audience,
to meet on Saturday with Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and
then celebrate a Sunday Mass during a canonization ceremony. On Oct. 7, the
pontiff is to visit a shrine in the ancient city of Pompeii, near Naples.
