The increasingly frail 84-year-old pontiff defies his infirmities
Published:
25 October 2004 y., Monday
The indefatigable Pope John Paul II conducts his weekly general audience Wednesday in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Pope John Paul II, the 263rd successor to St. Peter, marks the 26th anniversary of his election Saturday. It's one more milestone for the third-longest pontificate in history.
John Paul's first words as pope when he was inaugurated on Oct. 22, 1978, were "Be not afraid." Now his unofficial slogan seems to be "Never stop."
Despite his much-noted physical infirmities, he just released his 44th apostolic letter, intended to serve as the instructive and philosophical underpinning for his yearlong focus on the Eucharist, the consecrated bread and wine used for Holy Communion.
And the philosophical pontiff, born Karol Wojtyla in Poland on May 18, 1920, also is about the publish his fifth book, "Memory and Identity," to be released next spring. It is drawn from edited transcripts of his 1993 dialogs with two Polish friends, both professors.
In announcing the book last week, the Vatican released this brief excerpt from the pope's reflections on democracy, liberty and human rights: "Sometimes evil, in certain moments of human existence, reveals itself as useful. Useful in the measure in which it creates an occasion to do good."
Šaltinis:
USA TODAY
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Twenty years after it fell, Volker Pawlowski still has fond memories of the Berlin Wall. That's because he continues to make make money from it, by selling chunks to tourists
more »
Thanks to a daring combination of Croat Martina Majerle's disco vocals and classical strings of Slovenia's Quatrissimo, the band is hoping to hit a new note with judges.
more »
Most of his "patients" are over 1,000 years old and cannot speak.
Sixty-year-old Chinese Du Weisheng can only communicate with them by reading their symptoms.
more »
The bizarre festival in Tokyo is the response of the electronics sector of the city trying to drum up some business as the economic down turn keeps shoppers away.
more »
On 29 April 2009, at 4 p.m., the opening of a new sculpture Conjuror created by one of the most prominent contemporary artists Magdalena Abakanowicz will take place in Europos Parkas.
more »
Twenty films will compete for the coveted Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes film festival.
more »
A Polish music duo plays their classical tunes on a fragile instrument. A set of fine wine glasses make up the harp on which Anna and Arkadiusz Szafraniec from the city of Gdansk run their fingertips.
more »
In Europe people have grown used to exhibitions like this where the human body is preserved and laid open in all its complexity. Many are fascinated but now human rights group have become enraged.
more »
Indian police in Mumbai are probing accusations that the father of "Slumdog Millionaire" star Rubina Ali tried to sell her.
more »
Thousands of people competed in an online competition to join the YouTube Symphony orchestra, but only 96 will get to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall.
more »