c. 2005 Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II was reported to be recovering from the flu on Tuesday (Feb. 1), but the Vatican canceled his weekly general audience and put off other appointments for a few days.
The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff, whose health has been weakened by Parkinson’s disease, came down with the flu Sunday. Although his fever was gone by Sunday night, doctors advised him to rest for a few days.
“The evolution of the influenza syndrome that struck the Holy Father continues as expected,” said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
“As a consequence, appointments scheduled for the coming days have been postponed. In particular, the general audience of tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 2, will not take place,” the spokesman said.
Navarro-Valls, who has a medical degree, issued the brief statement in writing and read it word-for-word on Vatican television without elaborating. The Rev. Ciro Benedittini, assistant spokesman, said it was not the Vatican’s custom to give details of the pope’s medical condition.
It is unusual but not unheard of for John Paul to miss presiding over his weekly general audience because of illness. The last time was Sept. 24, 2003, when he came down with a gastrointestinal upset just two weeks before celebrations of the 25th anniversary of his election to the papacy.
In recent years, the pope also canceled audiences on March 13, 1996, because of an intestinal fever; on Feb. 5, 1997, because of influenza; and on March 6, 2002, because of severe pain caused by arthritis in his right knee.
Thousands of pilgrims attend the pope’s general audience, at which he delivers a brief teaching on a theological subject and offers greetings in a number of languages. Lately he has talked about the psalms said at Vespers services.
The weather in Rome has been unusually cold and windy, with temperatures near freezing, for more than a week. Health authorities reported Monday that one out of every 100 Italians is bedridden with influenza at present.
John Paul was hoarse and had trouble speaking clearly when he appeared at his open study window Sunday to lead the Angelus prayer and mark the end of the Catholic Church’s Month of Peace. His stay in the cold air was prolonged by the repeated refusal of a white dove of peace to take flight.
The pope’s canceled appointments included audiences on Tuesday with Swiss bishops and members of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education and a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the Day of Consecrated Life.
Other appointments in the coming days include a scheduled meeting on Friday (Feb. 4) with Josep Borrell Fontelles, the Spanish president of the European Parliament, and the Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 9.
Although he was called “God’s athlete” because of his vigor when he was elected pope in 1978 at the age of 58, John Paul’s strength also has been undermined by bullet wounds he suffered in his intestines in an attempt on his life on May 13, 1981, surgery for a pre-cancerous tumor of the colon in 1992, a dislocated shoulder in 1993 and a broken thigh bone in 1994. He has shown symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder, for some 17 years.
KRE/PH END POLK
