Pope’s role in Easter celebrations in question
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Even if Pope John Paul II is released from hospital in time for Easter at the end of the month, he is unlikely to fully participate in services marking Christianity’s most solemn holiday. But the Vatican insists the 84-year-old pope, adapting his papacy to the limitations imposed by age and infirmity, doesn’t have to utter a word to inspire the Roman Catholic faithful.
Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Friday the pope was expected to make another appearance at a window at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic hospital on Sunday, as he did last week. A final decision would be made Saturday, Navarro-Valls said.
“The pope will give the blessing with his hands,” not with his voice, still fragile after Feb. 24 surgery to insert a breathing tube into his throat, the spokesman said.
The Holy See said this week it was possible the pope could leave the hospital in time for Easter on March 27. Navarro-Valls said the Vatican was going ahead with its Easter schedule and that if the pope was out of the hospital, his participation would be worked out.
But with the pope now limited to waving and making the sign of the cross from a window of his 10th-floor hospital suite, his role in Holy Week services remains in question.
Palm Sunday, March 20, involves the traditional blessing of palms recalling the biblical account of Christ riding a donkey into Jerusalem, cheered by people waving palm fronds. There is also a procession and a Mass at St. Peter’s Square.
On March 24, the Vatican will mark Holy Thursday with a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed on Good Friday with an evening Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum.
A three-hour evening Easter Vigil service at St. Peter’s precedes Easter Sunday, where the pope traditionally presides over a Mass in the square followed by a blessing and his “Urbi et Orbi” message – “To the City and to the World.”
The grueling schedule had led to some speculation the Vatican would seek to keep John Paul in the hospital until after Easter to give him more time to recover.
The Easter season is dear to the pope – particularly the Way of the Cross procession and the “Urbi et Orbi” speech – but a new image of the papacy has been emerging since his latest health crisis, emphasizing the power of his presence over the spoken word.
Several top officials have noted that even if he is unable to read a homily, recite a verse or deliver a blessing, he can still preside over a Mass or participate in what the church calls a concelebration.
Enrico Gasbarra, president of the province of Rome, visited the hospital Friday and said he left impressed by the “tireless work that the Holy Father has never stopped doing even here.”
“Every day we have one more smile, because every day the Holy Father’s convalescence gets better and that puts us at peace,” he said.
The pope’s recovery is complicated by Parkinson’s disease, which causes gradual loss of muscle control. He also suffers from crippling hip and knee ailments.
John Paul was taken to Gemelli with breathing spasms Feb. 1 and was released Feb. 10, only to be rushed back Feb. 24 for the throat operation. He has begun speech and respiratory therapy.
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EDITOR’S NOTE – Associated Press writer Marta Falconi contributed to this story.