The Pope appeared at his hospital window on Sunday and uttered four almost unintelligible words of blessing to the crowds below to show that his ailing body has not yet defeated him.
The appearance, relayed on screens to crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square, was the first the Pope has made since he was taken to hospital last week with breathing spasms brought on by influenza.
Sitting at an open window on the top floor of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, dressed in his full white papal attire, the 84-year-old pontiff looked pale.
”Father, Son, Holy Ghost,” he managed to say, in Latin, in a deep hoarse voice, while tracing the sign of the cross in the air.
There was speculation in the Italian media that the voice of the Pope, whose face was partly hidden by the paper he was reading from, was recorded. But the Vatican spokesperson, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, dismissed that as nonsense.
The Pope appeared at the same hospital’s windows in 1981, when he greeted the crowds days after he was shot by a would-be assassin.
”Even from here, in this hospital, among other sick people to whom my affectionate thoughts go out, I can continue to serve the church and all humanity,” his message on Sunday read, dispelling any thought that he might retire.
The Pope thanked doctors and well-wishers around the world for their support.
Patients in pyjamas and doctors and nurses leaned from windows of the hospital buildings, joining the crowds below in subdued applause.
Groups of young pilgrims urged him on, shouting ”Viva il Papa!” and chanting ”John-Paul, John-Paul”.
Some were anxious because the Pope looked more frail than ever.
”Now we know he can’t really speak,” said Duilio Bollino (22). ”It’s clear he’s just not up to it any more.”
Church officials say the pontiff is recovering well but no date has been set for his return to the Vatican. All appointments have been cancelled and on Wednesday, for the first time in his 26-year papacy, John Paul II will miss the Ash Wednesday services in St Peter’s Basilica.
On Sunday a Vatican flag was hoisted at the hospital’s main entrance, adding to the fear that the heart of the Catholic world has moved indefinitely to this drab concrete hospital building, a few kilometres from the Vatican City. – Guardian Unlimited Â