Austrian Cardinal Says Pope Nearing Death

Reuters
Thursday, October 2, 2003; 1:39 PM
By Crispian Balmer
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A senior European cardinal said on Thursday Pope
John Paul was nearing death -- the latest top churchman to ring alarm bells
about the state of the 83-year old pontiff's health.




Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn made his comments on the same day the
pope's private secretary was trying to play down concerns about the pope's
evident frailty.
Pope John Paul, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease and can no longer walk
without help, has appeared weaker than normal in recent public appearances
and has struggled to speak at times.
"The whole world is experiencing a pope who is sick, handicapped and
dying -- I don't know how close to death he is -- who is approaching the
last days and months of his life," Schoenborn told Austrian radio.
Later Schoenborn's spokesman, Erich Leitenberger, said the comment was meant
"to be seen philosophically" and should not be interpreted literally.
Schoenborn, head of the Catholic Church in Austria and archbishop of Vienna,
is seen as a possible successor to the pope, who celebrates the 25th
anniversary of his pontificate later this month.
Earlier on Thursday, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, the pope's long-term
personal secretary, said recent comments by another senior cardinal about
the pope's condition had been taken out of context.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, an influential German prelate who heads the
Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was quoted as saying
by German magazine Bunte that the pope was "in a bad way." He called on the
faithful to pray for the pope.
CARDINAL DISTRESS
However, Dziwisz said Ratzinger wept when he saw that comments made in the
street had been reported in the press.
"Cardinal Ratzinger was crying yesterday," Dziwisz told reporters attending
a meeting between the pope and the president of Lithuania at the Vatican.
"He didn't give anyone an interview, but when he was stopped by a journalist
on the street he went as far as saying: 'If the pope is ill, pray for him,"'
he said.
The Vatican has insisted that the pope intends to push ahead with a hectic
program of events this month, including the 25th anniversary celebrations,
the beatification of Mother Teresa and a ceremony to invest some 30 new
cardinals named last Sunday.
The pope told pilgrims at a general audience on Wednesday that "God willing"
he would make a brief trip to the southern Italian city of Pompeii next
Tuesday to visit a sanctuary there.
At one point in the audience he briefly stopped speaking and a clear look of
frustration passed over his face. Seeing him struggling, the large crowd
broke into applause to cheer him on and after a pause he continued in his
flutey, breathless voice.
The pope had to skip last week's general audience because of an intestinal
disorder.
Earlier this week, French Archbishop Philippe Barbarin, who was among the
batch of newly appointed cardinals, told French radio: "The pope is in
really bad shape."
Dziwisz urged reporters on Thursday not to overdramatise John Paul's
frailty. He said much that had been written over the years had ultimately
proved false, and with a smile added:
"Some journalists who in recent years have spoken and written a lot about
the pope's health are already in heaven."
(Additional reporting by Luke Baker in Rome, Francois Murphy and Louis
Charbonneau in Vienna)