Pilgrims weep at sight of frail Pope

The Pope made a surprise appearance at his hospital window yesterday, waving and making the sign of the cross after reportedly starting speech therapy to restore his voice, lost during throat surgery.

For the first time in his 26-year reign, the 84-year-old Pontiff did not intone the weekly Angelus prayer recited partly in Latin in St Peter's Square each week in front of thousands of pilgrims and tourists.

The Angelus was read instead by the Holy See's Under-Secretary of State, the Argentinian Monsignor Leonardo Sandri, as John Paul followed privately from his 10th-floor suite at the Gemelli hospital.

The Pope was rushed to the hospital late last week for a tracheotomy after suffering another severe breathing crisis linked to influenza and Parkinson's disease.

The Vatican indicated on Sunday that it was unlikely the Pope would make an appearance while convalescing.

But just after noon the blinds were opened at the hospital window, disclosing the frail Catholic leader seated in a wheelchair with his head slumped to one side.

Wearing white robes with the collar loosened to conceal the tube in his throat, he made a one-minute appearance, saluting the throng outside and crossing himself.

At one point he clutched at his throat as if it were irritating him, before he was wheeled away by an aide.

The appearance of the suffering Pope brought tears to the eyes of many in a crowd of pilgrims, patients and well-wishers gathered in the Gemelli courtyard.

But it partly assuaged the anxiety of Catholics around the world since it at least confirmed the Vatican's statement that John Paul is breathing naturally without a respirator.

Pilgrims at the hospital chanted in Spanish "John Paul II, the whole world loves you", and Italians held up a sign saying, "Don't ever give up".

The newspaper Il Messagero reported that doctors began testing the Pope's vocal chords on Sunday by having him exercise his voice for several minutes to check that the tracheotomy, which left him speechless for several days, had done no permanent damage.

"The Pontiff could speak again," the newspaper quoted medical sources saying. "However, his voice would be deeper and altered."

In a message read by Sandri, the Pope thanked the world for its concern over his health and asked the faithful to pray for him.

"I am close to those of you gathered in St Peter's Square," John Paul said.

"I thank you with affection and I feel spiritually close to you ... I ask you to accompany me, above all with your prayers ... "

The Pope's loss of voice has rekindled the debate within the church over whether he should resign since he cannot celebrate Mass while mute and has been unable to walk since 2003.

La Repubblica newspaper said yesterday that the Vatican had commissioned a top-secret report on when a Pope should resign.

Under the criteria outlined in the report John Paul is right to remain on St Peter's throne in spite of his failing health, it said.

The document was drawn up by the late Cardinal Vincenzo Fagiolo, an expert on Canon law at the Vatican, who spoke to the Pope several times before writing the guidelines at the end of the 1990s and handing them personally to John Paul, who had commissioned the study.

Resignation of a Pope is only justifiable when the Pontiff is "mentally incapable of carrying out his ministry", the study concluded.

It ruled out resignation on the mere grounds of age or illness, saying that the prospect of having a reigning Pope at the same time as a retired Pope could lead to divisions in the Catholic Church and a possible schism.

- INDEPENDENT