Pope in ‘serene abandonment to God’s will'

VATICAN CITY - A cardinal who stood in for Pope John Paul at a Holy Thursday ceremony at the Vatican said the ailing Pontiff was "serenely abandoning" himself to God's will.

The 84-year-old Pope, whose health is still precarious following throat surgery last month, watched the service on television from his Vatican apartments.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a senior Vatican cardinal, presided at the first of two Holy Thursday rites which the ailing Pope will have to skip.

"Through his absence, he is more than ever present at this Mass," Re said in his sermon during the solemn service in St Peter's Basilica.

"We want to thank him for the witness he continues to give us even through his example of serene abandonment to God, which he links to the mystery of the cross," Re said.

Throughout his various illnesses and brushes with death, even following the assassination attempt against him in 1981, the Pope always said his life was in God's hands.

But Re's words in his sermon were all the more poignant because this year is the first in John Paul's papacy that he is missing Holy Week services leading up to Easter this Sunday.

At the start of the Mass, Re read a message from the Pope.

"I am united ideally with all of you who are gathered in the Vatican basilica," the Pope said in his message. "Via television from my apartment, my dearest ones, I am spiritually with you. "

Holy Thursday is the day Christians commemorate the founding of the priesthood at the Last Supper in Jerusalem on the day before Christ was crucified. On Holy Thursday, priests renew the vows they first took when they were ordained.

During the morning service, known as the Mass of the Chrism, the cardinals blessed oils that will be used in Catholic rites, including oils used to annoint the sick and dying.

In the afternoon another cardinal, Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, was presiding at another rite in which the feet of 12 priests are washed to commemorate Christ's gesture of humility toward his Apostles on the night before he died.

The Pope underwent a tracheotomy to relieve severe breathing problems on Feb. 24. He has spent a total of 28 days in two stints at Rome's Gemelli hospital these past two months.

Since he left hospital on March 13, the Pope, who also suffers from Parkinson's Disease and severe arthritis, has made four very brief appearances but has not spoken a word in public.

On Wednesday, the day he normally holds his general audience, the Pope made a 65-second appearance from his window overlooking St Peter's Square.

He looked gaunt and pale and pained and did not speak.

Vatican sources say his recovery from surgery is slower than they had hoped and that his health remains precarious.

The Vatican has not commented on Italian reports that his medication was causing problems that include difficulties with breathing and feeding, headaches, vomiting and general weakness.

Doctor Rodolfo Proietti, head of the medical team that treated the Pope while he was in Rome's Gemelli Hospital until March 13, has said no new hospitalisation was foreseen.

The Pope still has a tube, known as a cannula, in his throat to help him breathe and medical experts have said he will probably have to keep it there for the rest of his life.

Cardinals will also stand in for the Pope at Good Friday services commemorating Christ's passion and death, as well as Easter Eve and Easter Sunday, commemorating the day Christians believe Christ rose from the dead.

The Pope is expected to deliver his Easter "Urbi et Orbi " (to the city and the world) blessing after his secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, presides at Easter mass for him.

- REUTERS