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Friday, April 1, 2005
According to the Vatican, the medical condition of Pope John Paul II is very grave, and reports indicate that during today's treatment his heart momentarily stopped beating.
The pope has been undergoing treatment for a urinary infection, and yesterday developed a high fever. He has been breathing through a tube in his throat, and a feeding tube was inserted as the pope was having trouble swallowing.
Earlier, news organizations reported that the pope received the sacrament for the sick and dying — commonly known as last rites. The Vatican today confirmed this. These rites are administered to those close to death, but may also be administered to those very sick, and may be repeated if necessary. The pope has previously received last rites after an assassination attempt on his life in 1981.
The latest malady to affect the pope — the urinary infection — is treatable with antibiotics, and according to a Vatican spokesperson the pope was responding well to such treatment. Some physicians fear that a failure in one system may "cascade" to a failure in other organs, further deteriorating the 84-year-old pope's health.
Some Italian newspapers have already claimed the Pope is dead, which the Vatican has denied.
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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
