German Speaking Brazilian Cardinal "the time has come for the pope to resign"

From World: The pope of the divided heart:

"Yes, the time has come for the pope to resign so that the church can continue to respond to historical changes and to this critical moment that we are passing through," said 83-year-old Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of Brazil during a recent wide-ranging interview with a major Brazilian daily.

The cardinal said he has talked with the pope about retirement but doubts John Paul II will go.

"I spoke to him about this with all simplicity," Arns said. ?Indirectly, I asked him if it weren't too much for him. This was his answer: 'Paulo, from here to here [pointing to his chest and to his head] I feel fine. I am the same person I was when I was elected to the papacy. I do not see any reason to resign because my head, my heart and my organs are all doing well.' "

This meeting, Arns said, was about five or six years ago, when he still went to Rome regularly. "The pope had some difficulty walking, but we did walk up and down in the corridor," Arns said. "We were speaking in German. He speaks German clearly, and I do too since it was my second language at home."