Austrian cardinal says Pope nearing death

A senior European cardinal said yesterday 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," Cardinal Schoenborn told Austrian radio.

Later Cardinal Schoenborn's spokesman, Erich Leitenberger, said the comment was meant "to be seen philosophically" and should not be interpreted literally.

Cardinal 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 yesterday, 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.

However, Archbishop Dziwisz said Cardinal Ratzinger wept when he saw that comments made in the street had been reported in the press.

"Cardinal Ratzinger was crying yesterday," Archbishop 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 programme 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.