Plenty of Stories Claiming John Paul II is Failing Fast



Of course we've read these before, but you usually don't hear bishops and cardinals saying it.



From IOL : 'The pope is in really bad shape':



"One of the newly appointed cardinals, Archbishop Phillippe Barbarin, of Lyons, France, told Europe 1 Radio on Monday: 'The pope is reaching the end of the road. It's a big responsibility for us. The pope is in really bad shape.'



He has forced himself forward through many years of his failing health by giving himself new goals.



The major milestones next month - his own jubilee and the beatification of Mother Teresa - may have given him the will to continue thus far.



Thus far, but perhaps no further."



From F2 Network:



Ailing Pope John Paul II, easily the most widely travelled pope in history, has told his closest aides he will make no further trips abroad, the daily La Repubblica reported yesterday.



"The trip to Slovakia was the last one," the 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church was quoted as having said of the trip that ended two weeks ago. There was no immediate Vatican reaction.



From Cardinal Ratzinger via Yahoo News:



Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the German head of the Vatican body which oversees doctrinal matters, has been quoted as saying Pope John Paul is in very poor health and the faithful should pray for him.





"He is in a very bad way," Ratzinger told Germany's Bunte magazine in an interview on Tuesday. "We should pray for the pope."





Ratzinger, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the magazine that the 83-year-old pope had taken on too much, but he was unable to stop him.