Pope John Paul II
Friday, February 11, 2000 12:01 AM ET
Religion in the News
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The scenario has been the subject of whispers for years: An aging pope in failing health and no longer able to continue the highly public role that has been his hallmark, calls it quits and retires to a monastery in his native Poland.
Pure speculation, and not something Vatican officials like to talk bout openly.
So when a top German bishop merely suggested recently that Pope John Paul II could at some time choose such an option, it set off a frenzy in the Italian press.
Continued alarms about the 79-year-old pope's health - that he will lose his speech and might have to use a wheelchair - have sent Vatican anger rising.
Even the pope seems annoyed.
At a recent audience, when Spanish schoolchildren chanted, ``The whole world loves you,'' John Paul curtly responded: ``Who knows?''
The Vatican has taken to angrily brushing off the alarm, seeing it as a campaign to undermine the office of the papacy.
``The Jubilee proceeds at the pope's pace, apparently faltering but internally vigorous,'' wrote editor Mario Agnes in the Vatican's daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
This, he said, is an ``objective reality that seems to annoy a hidden, meager group that from time to time announces, through some compliant media outlet, predictions without sense and without foundation.''
Enough talk about resignation, the newspaper demanded in a later commentary. ``Physical weakness does not mean incapacity.''
Those close to the top dismiss out of hand the possibility that the pope, certainly a traditionalist, has any intention of resigning. He has spoken of his duty and how he has come to terms with his advancing years.
``It's not out of the realm of possibility, but as for the foreseeable future I think the answer is no,'' said George Weigel, author of a recently published biography of John Paul.
``He's not the CEO of a corporation but the father of a family. You don't resign paternity,'' said Weigel.
Still, the pope's deteriorating health is plain to all.
His speech is slurred and his hands tremble, both symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder. Since hip surgery following a fall in his bathroom in 1994, he has had difficulty walking and climbing stairs.
In a radio interview in January, Bishop Karl Lehmann, head of the German bishops conference, said he thought that the pope, ``if he were to feel that he is simply no longer capable enough to lead the church, ... he would have the strength and courage to say, `I can no longer fill that which needs to be done.' ''
Lehmann even mentioned precedent - Pope Celestine V, who abdicated in 1294, feeling himself unfit for the post. He spent the last two years of his life in confinement because his successor feared he could become the rallying point for a schism.
Lehmann's remarks have echoed throughout Catholic circles, with some supporters of the traditionalist pope suspecting an effort to ease him out. Quoting an article suggesting he could not function if unable to speak, the National Committee of Catholic Laymen, a conservative U.S. group, said in its newsletter, ``A silent church? A speechless pope? Sounds to us like wishful thinking on the part of the modernists.''
John Paul turns 80 in May. The health issue will clearly become more pressing in the months and years ahead. Church law has no procedure to declare incapacity.
It does provide for resignation, requiring only that this is done ``freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone.''
As for the foreseeable future, John Paul is only barely paring back his schedule, although his doctors have pressed him to reduce it even further.
In February and March alone, he has trips planned to the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt and the Holy Land, and he has an event-filled schedule for the entire 2000 church Holy Year.
At the Vatican and elsewhere, there are many who believe that the sight of a pope battling his physical ailments sends out a positive signal in a world, as Weigel put it, used to ``disposable humans.''
``What's wrong with a pope in a wheelchair?'' Weigel asked.
Our Lady says:
CHOSEN WELL
Our Lady - "Your
successor to Peter has been chosen well. We sat him upon the throne of Peter
for the principal reason to return My Son's Church to its original state.
"Understand well, My children, that he is also a human being subject to
error. But this does not mean that he is to be subjected to derision and hate,
until you build up a fire within the hearts of those who are seeking to destroy
him. Better that you pray for the Holy Father than to deride him.
"Do not question him at this time, because I assure you, My children--as he will tell you in due time--I, too, have appeared to the Holy Father." September 27, 1986
VISIONS
Saint Michael - "Yes, my
child and my children, tell the world immediately that the Holy Father suffers
greatly, for he, too, has been given insights in visions to know what lies ahead
for him. But he is willing to suffer all for the salvation of souls and the
good of the Holy Church." November
1, 1985
SENT BY GOD
Our Lady - "As I have
warned you, the time is growing short, and the enemies of My Son's Church are
accelerating in their plan to do away with your Vicar, your Vicar who has been
sent to you by God the Father to save the whole institution of religion in the
world, and not have it fall into the hands of the egomaniacs that reside in the
land called Russia....
The fate of humanity and the world lies in the hands and the hearts of the faithful. Without your prayers and your acts of penance, you cannot save your Pope, and Our son, your Vicar. " September 7, 1985
FAR WORSE SACRILEGE
Our Lady - "Unless you
pray for your Vicar, Pope John Paul II, he will be removed from among you. And
if this takes place, there will be far worse sacrilege committed in the city of
Rome and the parishes throughout the world. . . .
Veronica-I can see St. Peter's. But now I see blood, blood running down St. Peter's and into the square there, and it's dividing-it's dividing the Church in half.
Our Lady – “That, My child, is symbolism of what is to be. When Pope John Paul II is removed, the Church shall be divided among itself. United it will stand, divided it will fall." March 18, 1983
See
the Directives
from Heaven
#7 - Pope John Paul II
#63 - The Third
Secret
#73 - Extermination
of Pope?
See
the Bayside
Prophecies
March 18, 1983 -- He (the
Pope) must not venture out side of Rome until next year. (click
here)
May 21, 1983 -- He ( John Paul II ) must
listen and act upon message given to him or he will die (click
here)
September 14, 1985 -- Save the Pope! John Paul II begs
for prayers (click here)
October 2, 1989 -- Pope under domination of bishops (click
here)
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