NEWS STORY: Doctors Advise Pope to Guard Against Infection, Limit His Speaking

c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II, back in the Vatican following surgery for severe breathing problems, was advised by medical experts Monday (March 14) to guard against infection by avoiding crowds and to limit his speaking. The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff left Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic hospital at dusk […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II, back in the Vatican following surgery for severe breathing problems, was advised by medical experts Monday (March 14) to guard against infection by avoiding crowds and to limit his speaking.

The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff left Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic hospital at dusk on Sunday, 17 days after surgeons inserted a tube in his swollen throat to ease his breathing.


Sitting in a wheelchair beside the driver of a Mercedes minivan, the pope waved and blessed crowds that applauded him along his route. For the first time, a Vatican television cameraman sat behind the pope to film the 16-minute ride.

The first indication of whether John Paul intends to alter his routine will come Wednesday, when he normally holds his weekly general audience for thousands of pilgrims. Last Wednesday, with his audience canceled, he made a surprise appearance at his 10th-floor window to bless pilgrims who gathered outside the hospital.

For the first time in the more than 26 years of his pontificate, John Paul is not scheduled to lead Holy Week observances, which open with Palm Sunday on March 20, but the Vatican said he will give his traditional Easter blessing to Rome and the world on Easter Sunday (March 27).

John Paul was discharged from the hospital sooner than expected and with the breathing tube still in his throat. News reports said that he had overruled his doctors, who wanted him to remain there through this week.

Ido Iori, director of the Fadoi Hospital specializing in internal medicine, told the newspaper Il Messaggero it is important that the pope is not exposed to infection by coming in contact with anyone carrying a virus or bacteria. This would appear to rule out large audiences.

Iori said that in an elderly patient like John Paul, a simple infection could become “an attack that the organism is not capable of supporting” and force another hospitalization. He said the pope should remain “in a protected atmosphere,” sleep propped up by pillows and drink liquids frequently.

Corrado Manni, who was the pope’s anesthesiologist in previous operations, said in an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica that his advice to John Paul was to “rest, not force your voice and discipline your energies better” to avoid the need for another hospitalization.


Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said last week that John Paul had accepted his doctors’ advice to remain in the hospital “a few more days in order to complete his convalescence” but that he would be back in the Vatican by Holy Week.

In a surprise announcement at midday Sunday, the spokesman said that the pope, “with the agreement of his medical team, will return tonight to the Vatican where he will continue his convalescence.”

It was the second time since Feb. 1 that John Paul had been hospitalized with breathing problems caused by influenza. His condition was complicated by Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder that has affected his vocal chords and restricted his ability to move.

He spent Feb. 1-10 in the hospital and was readmitted for surgery on Feb. 24.

Earlier Sunday, John Paul spoke in public for the first time since the tracheotomy. Appearing at his hospital window after an aide led the noon Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, he spoke in a weak voice, pausing to catch his breath.

“Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your visit. Greetings to you all. Have a good Sunday and a good week,” he said to the crowd outside the hospital and the pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square watching him on two large video screens.


KRE/PH END RNS

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