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from BBC News
Readmission to the Gemelli Clinic [news.bbc.co.uk]

Payers for the Holy Father that he weathers this set back

Anhelyna

Anhelyna, I just saw this on the news. Prayers for him, of course. This pope has suffered much.

The Pope is a living Saint. I pray for the Pope.

I was thinking about this today. Pope John Paul II is a great man, but he's also stubborn I hear (he's Polish, we're all stubborn). So, while, I was reflecting on this, I heard that they had to give him a tracheotomy. I thought "Maybe it's time to retire. How will the world deal with the Pope with a tracheotomy?" It makes many of us uncomfortable, myself included.

Then I remembered his stubbornness and also his holiness, and saw what a wonderful opportunity this is for him to witness again. The same things were said when he was dianosed with Parkinson's Disease and he stands there and shows us all that disease and death have no hold over us.

I'm afraid for him, but I think I admire him now more than I ever did before.

Yes, it is without question that the Pope is a wonderful and holy man and a great witness, but there is also the question of is it time for him to abdicate for the greater good of the Church?
Stephanos I

I don't know, that's a difficult question. I do remember when bishops did not retire but served for life, and the Church seemed to always get by quite well. Certainly, there have been ailing popes before, and yet the Vatican bureaucracy seemed to keep everything running. So it's hard to say whether the pope should retire or not. There's not much in the way of precedent to rely upon.

Dont worry yourself Steph the Pope was heard to have joked a few weeks ago: "I sign all my documents with my right hand" (a reference to the fact his left is constantly shaking because of Parkinson's). The Pope has surrounded himself with trusted friends and aides, people he has known for decades who he can rely on to 'give it to him straight'. He would not continue if he did not have their support.

His Holiness knows better than anybody that although the Curia can do a lot, they cannot take on his powers to raise Sees and appoint Bishops etc. The media might like to present him as a figurehead but there are functions no Pope can delegate. Even with the Vatican congregations the Church in the West has no lung to breathe with without the Pope. I think part of the reason he came out of the hospital was to carry out yesterday morning's canonisations, which cannot be done without him either. The Pope realises the gravity of his office and although he has a slavic stubborness he would not ever let it damage the Church, cos he loves it so much.

This is the most powerful thing. I'm certain that the Pope is a true contemplative and that he is motivated purely to suffer for the sake of Jesus' love. He once said he wouldnt step down because Jesus didnt come down from the cross. This illustrates that he has the mystic temprament. He views his pain through the eyes of Romans 8:35-39 and Colossians 1:24. This is redemptive suffering to make up what is lacking in the body, a body that has sadly scandalised many in the West. As much as this is a witness to the 'culture of death' about what the infirm can actually do, I dont think these acts are primarily for their eyes. This is much deeper than that. This is about 1 John 4:19. The attractive power of God's love is causing His Holiness' heart to overflow with love making Him more than willing to carry the cross Heaven has alloted him. This is about more than Euthanasia, this is about the love between one man's heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is God's way of showing us that all our suffering can be sweetened if we abide in Him.

Keep going Holy Father our prayers are with you. Die doing so...

...AMDG

Sincerely
Myles

An update from the Beeb

BBC Update [news.bbc.co.uk]

This very great Pope is a fighter.

Stephanos,

I understand your position. Many have said that he should retire because he is ill and frail, and you often see Navarro-Valles saying things like "the Pope has said that even though he cannot speak today, he is full of the zeal of the new millenium" or whatever, so we get the idea that even though his body is broken and weak, his mind and spirit are very much alive and he still has work to do. In this, he is seen as stubborn, but he has always been so.

Now he uses his illnesses to show us that bodily frailness is not an excuse to stop our work for Christ.

Honestly, I'm torn in many ways because I really admire his position. at the same time, I have had no other Pope that I can remember in my 29 years (don't remember Paul VI or John Paul I), so he is a big part of my life in this respect. I've begun to think about what the Church will be like under a new pope.

Dear Father Stephanos, BLESS US! I do not believe it is difficult to see an analogy between the Holy Father's present suffering and 'passion' and that of Our Lord Jesus as 'suffering servant' in Isaiah Chapter 53. Every priest is configured at ordination to be an 'alter Christus' (another Christ) and when the priest or bishop stands at the Holy Altar, he stands "in persona Christi" (in the very person of Christ). So it is not unusual for someone who has lived his priesthood in an exemplary manner to find himself configured to the Lord completely toward the end of his earthly pilgrimage; it is simply a sign from God Himself that THIS PRIEST has been so completely transformed by Holy Orders that he now resembles the Icon of Christ to the fullest extent possible. We see in the Holy Father's suffering now an icon of the Passion of Christ...but one day, we will see him in incredible days of rejoicing when both he and we have been tranfigured into Christ as Risen Lord in the glory of Paradise.

Images of the Lord Jesus as 'Suffering Servant' from Isaiah:

He took up our infirmities
He carried our sorrows
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our iniquities
Punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
By His wounds we are healed
The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our iniquities
Punishment was upon Him [Punishment can only be for sin]
The Lord laid iniquity on Him [The Lord did not make Him sinful, but laid on Him the guilt of iniquity, and therefore sin's penalty]
On this theme there is more in later stanzas:

For the transgression of my people was he stricken, vs. 8
His life was a guilt offering, vs. 10
He will bear their iniquities, vs. 11
He bore the sin of many, vs. 12

Sometimes it would seem even a great 'martyria' to teach by example? And the example here in the life of Pope John Paul II is crystal clear and seems to shout at the world: All life is sacred from the womb to the tomb...and every single person/life is PRECIOUS and manifests the presence of God, in whose image it was created and redeemed by Christ. As Pope John Paul saind some years ago in St. Louis (when his legs were beginning to give him real problems: The pope doesn't rule/minister to the Church with his legs or his hands, but with his head and his heart---with his soul!

In His great love for us all,
+Fr. Gregory

The Holy Father's Sunday Message - Sunday, February 17, 2005

The Pope looked frail as he appeared at his 10th-floor suite at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

He waved to well-wishers and pointed to his throat where doctors inserted a tube during Thursday's tracheotomy operation.


The Pope's brief message to pilgrims gathered at the Vatican was read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri.

In it he said "the current climate of penitence of Lent also helps us to better understand the suffering which one way or other concerns us all".

"Only looking to Christ and following him with patient trust shall we understand how all human form of pain includes a divine promise of salvation and happiness."

"I want this message of comfort and hope to reach everyone, especially those who are going through difficult times, who are suffering in body and soul."

**************************************************

Help us to pray for the Holy Father Lord!

O Lord have mercy on Pope John Paul II, universal pastor of the entire Catholic Church and grant him all the graces necessary to live through this period of his passion with serenity and strength---so that he may continue as an example to the whole world of the dignity of each and every human being made in the image and likeness of God Our Creator. Give the Holy Father respite from his suffering and pain and bless him with peace and tranquillity and rest from his labours in Your service! Strengthen him for the days and service ahead and gift him with as much time among us as possible, so that he can continue to clearly manifest and preach You to the world that so desperately hungers for You. Heal him completely from his illness and restore his strength, if it be Your will---so that he can continue to be an example for all of the sanctity and value of all life. The seal of Your blessing is being placed upon our Holy Father now in Rome, even more clearly than during his mission travels and homilies and all the activities of his ministry as universal pastor. Be gentle with him Lord and help him to accept the human limitations of his present human condition gracefully and with peace of mind and heart! As we see You in the Pope John Paul's present suffering, may we see You in all human beings from their beginnings in the womb to their natural death. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Our Lord and Saviour, Who with You Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns as One God, unto ages of ages, Amen.

O Mary our Mother and Queen, we ask your special care and protection for the Holy Father now and at the hour of his death. He has been consecrated to you and your service from a very young age---and since he is "Totus Tuus"---be all his now and stay near him, that he may feel your very presence!

In Jesus & Mary,
+Fr. Gregory

Dear Father Gregory,

I agree with your eloquent post (to our beloved Father Stephanos).

It is nice and inspiring to hear such beautiful words from a fellow Orthodox (and more importantly--Orthodox clergyman) about such a holy, pious and exemplary human being and servant of the Catholic Church!

Your objective and heartfelt words and praises for him are like sweet flowers for the soul, for they exemplify the agape love all Christians should have for each other!

Thank you.

In Christ,
Alice

Don't get m e wrong, I was not being critical of the Holy Father in the least. I am a great admirer of him and a strong supporter. And I know well the cost of standing at the altar and being conformed to the suffering of Chirst.
It was just my opinion that it is time.
Stephanos I

They keep saying in news articles that the Pope has Parkinsons. But my husband says he is not aware that the Vatican has ever confirmed this, and suspects this is just speculation and/or propaganda.

Does anyone here know whether the Vatican has ever confirmed the Parkinsons diagnosis the news has been throwing around, or not?

Tammy