Pope's health improves

Pope John Paul's health is improving steadily and he remains in charge of the Roman Catholic Church, hoping to be strong enough to make his weekly address on Sunday, the Vatican said yesterday.

The Vatican issued its latest reassuring bulletin as cardinals began speaking openly of a great papacy in decline because of the 84-year-old Pope's catalogue of health problems.

But the Vatican insisted the Pope was still in control of the Church and making the big decisions.

The Pope spent his third full day in Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was rushed after he suffered a respiratory crisis on Tuesday night. The Vatican says his recovery from the acute breathing problems caused by the flu has been steady.

"The Holy Father's health condition is improving. John Paul II is taking food normally. Clinical and laboratory tests confirm that the overall condition has stabilised," chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

The Pope has not been seen in public since he blessed crowds from his window overlooking St Peter's Square last Sunday. His spokesman said the Pontiff clearly hoped to be able to make his weekly blessing from his hospital suite this Sunday.

Mr Navarro-Valls cut short speculation that the Pope was no longer running the Church.

"If there are things that need a decision by the Holy Father, it is the Holy Father who will make those decisions," Mr Navarro-Valls said in response to a question.

Still, the hospitalisation, coupled with the onslaught of Parkinson's disease and arthritis, was another reminder that one of history's greatest papacies was getting closer to its end.

There has also been talk that the possibility of papal retirement for health reasons should be openly discussed at the conclave that will elect the next Pope after his death.

"In a future pontificate maybe one will think differently about illness and aging. But no one is talking about this problem today," Cardinal Achille Silvestrini was quoted as saying in an interview with a local Italian news syndicate.

"This pontificate is declining, but it is so great," he added. "From a human point of view, decline is inevitable, but we aren't looking at this aspect."

The Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul in 1981 has sent a letter wishing the ailing Pontiff a quick recovery, the Vatan daily said yesterday.

Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot the Pope during a general audience in St Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, wrote his letter in Italian from the Istanbul jail where he is serving a sentence for killing a Turkish journalist and for robbery.

"You and I, we have both suffered in trying to spread religion around the world. I hope you regain your health in the near future," Vatan quoted Agca, a Muslim, as writing.