Pope John Paul II, courageously clinging to the vestiges of a once-robust health, received a rapturous welcome from prelates and pilgrims alike on Thursday as he celebrated a milestone 25th anniversary of his election.
Cheering and applause greeted the 83-year-old pope, the fourth-longest-serving pontiff, as he made his first public appearance on Thursday at a Vatican conference hall, hours before he was to preside at a mass in St Peter’s Square surrounded by almost the entire hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
Although its primary aim was the formal signing of decisions made by the last Synod of Bishops 2001, Thursday morning’s audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall was attended by more than 7 000 pilgrims, who cheered noisily and waved banners when the pope was wheeled before them by aides.
The pope, slumped in his mobile throne but appearing in reasonably good form despite increasing concerns for his failing
health, waved in acknowledgement.
When he spoke, his voice sounded weak and slurred, and he skipped sections of his speech.
His reign as head of Roman Catholics worldwide has been surpassed in church history only by Saint Peter, the first pope, Pius IX and Leon XIII.
Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, acknowledged that the state of the pope’s health would cast a shadow over the celebrations.
He said his own personal mood was “one of gratitude and joy, but somewhat sober because of the pope’s ability to breath is somewhat declining”.
Many Catholics fear the pope, crippled by Parkinson’s disease and arthritis and frequently tired, may not have the reserves of energy to get through a busy week of public appearances.
He is to beatify Mother Teresa of Calcutta at a ceremony in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.
“There’s no feeling the pope is going to leave us imminently,” said South African Cardinal Wilfred Napier. “Today the most important thing is to celebrate with him.”
John Paul II began the day like every other, deep in prayer in his private apartments at the Vatican, his spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls told Italy’s RAI Uno state television early on Thursday.
“I know he’s spending many hours in prayer, even this morning very early in his private chapel,” Navarro-Valls said.
“He speaks very little about what he is thinking, he doesn’t speak about his interior life, but I believe he is thanking God to allow him to do what he has done.”
The frail pontiff is to concelebrate mass with the multicoloured ranks of the Catholic Church hierarchy in St Peter’s Square on Thursday evening, expected to be attended by tens of thousands of faithful.
It is scheduled to be shown live on Italian state television.
Stewards were busy making last minute preparations for the event early on Thursday, setting out rows of seats and arranging flowers as knots of pilgrims milled about.
The mass is due to begin at 6pm, around the time a puff of white smoke over the Vatican announced the election of
Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla a quarter of a century ago.
“I’m sure the pope will do all what he had plans to do this week,” said Navarro-Valls, adding that Thursday morning’s audience had been moved from a smaller hall at the Vatican to accommodate the numbers of pilgrims who want to see the pope.
Almost all the 195 cardinals of the Catholic Church, as well as archbishops, bishops and heads of Vatican dicasteries, are in Rome for a congress of the Church being held in tandem with the anniversary celebrations.
Three days of discussions on the future of the church, which got under way on Wednesday, will centre on themes close to the pope’s heart, including Priests, the Consecrated Life, and Vocations, The Family, Ecumenism, The Missions and The 25 Year Pontificate in the Service of Peace.
“It’s the first time that a pope organised the debate to define the agenda of a transition,” said leading Vatican commentator, Marco Politi, in La Repubblica.
However, senior cardinals told journalists on Wednesday that it was too early to speak of John Paul II’s successor.
“This is really a time of celebration,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles. “We’re here to celebrate the Holy Father.”
Any talk of the next conclave — which will eventually select the pope’s successor — was “premature”, he added. — Sapa-AFP