http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=625328
Tense wait inside the Vatican as the Pope is 'read the
last rites'
By Peter Popham in Rome
01 April 2005
The Pope was last night given the last rites, Italian
media reported, after a dramatic worsening of his
health.
The Vatican declined to confirm the reports, but a
statement said Pope John Paul II, 84, was suffering
from a very high fever after contracting an infection
of the urinary tract. It was also reported that he had
experienced a steep drop in his blood pressure.
The Vatican added that "an appropriate antibiotic
therapy has begun" and that "the clinical situation is
being closely watched by the Vatican medical team
treating him".
The Pope has been suffering from Parkinson's disease
for more than a decade. The present crisis dates back
to 1 February when he was hospitalised with flu. He
was discharged 10 days later but soon re-admitted
after suffering a relapse. In hospital he underwent a
tracheotomy, having a tube inserted into his throat to
help him to breathe.
Since then he has only uttered a few words in public,
and on his most recent appearances, apparently wracked
by pain, he tried to speak but failed to produce
intelligible words. After another agonised appearance
at his apartment window above St Peter's on Wednesday,
the Vatican announced that he would now be fed by a
tube through his nose. There was also talk of a
possible permanent feeding tube directly into his
stomach - an operation that would require the Pope's
return to hospital.
All such speculation was put on hold last night,
however, as the Pope's health took what to many
observers appeared to be a critical - and perhaps
final - turn for the worse.
Senior cardinals and others high up in the Vatican
were yesterday preparing the world's one billion Roman
Catholics for the worst. Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna,
once considered a strong candidate to be the next
pope, said that John Paul II was "approaching, as far
as a person can tell, the end of his life". A priest
working inside the Vatican told Reuters news agency:
"We are on stand-by for anything. Hardly anyone thinks
the situation will improve, but everyone is hoping for
a miracle."
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"[M]y ministry is that of servus servorum Dei."
--Pope John Paul II (Ut Unum Sint, no. 88)
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the powers of death
shall not prevail against it."
--Matthew 16:18
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