Pope has had second stroke

[emad]

May 01, 2005 Sunday Times
Pope has had second stroke



WHEN the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI gave his acceptance speech last month, he explained that he had chosen his name primarily because the papacy of Benedict XV had been “a short reign”, writes Jon Follain.

Both the 78-year-old former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the cardinals who elected him had given much thought to his age and his health. Breaking a Vatican taboo, princes of the church have now revealed that he has had a second mild stroke within the past two years and that he also suffers from a heart condition.


His ailments raise questions about how long his papacy will last. Since his election Benedict, the oldest man to become pope in 275 years, has at times been helped by an aide to stand during church services.

The French cardinal Philippe Barbarin, of Lyons, said that health problems following a first stroke in 1991 had repeatedly prompted Ratzinger to ask his predecessor, John Paul II, to release him from his job as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer so that he could retire to Germany and write books.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1592856,00.html

[Toucano]

1. Does this mark the beginning of the death watch?

Gee, I've been missing "PopeTV" for almost a whole week!

Maybe it will return soon!

[emad]

2. Three strikes and he's out...

[Catshrink]

3. I hope CNN doesn't get wind of this...

but then it will knock runaway bride off the news and we'll have pope-watch II with occasional break-ins for Michael Jackson updates.

[mom cat]

12. Oh goody! Real news at last!

[radwriter0555]

4. HAMMERS, getcher HAMMERS here...

Whack, whack, whack... Yep, he's dead. oh NO WAIT! He's ALIVE!!!!

[Demit]

5. He's some kind of transitional figure for them, can't figure out why tho..

They've installed him deliberately for some reason. Maybe it's as simple as paying back the good cardinal for years of devoted service, knowing his time will be brief. But there's some strategy there, too...

[bemildred]

9. We're supposed to ignore all the reactionary stuff he does because

"He'll be dead soon".
Get it?

[ClintonTyree]

16. All of those faithful years...

covering up for the pedophiles within the church. Just a little reward for sweeping everything under the carpet.

[grytpype]

6. DEADPOPAPALOOZA II....

.... this time, it's a German.

[emad]

7. Just how much of his medical history was declared to the conclave

and IF they all knew, is that why they picked him, like a pacemaker to the next one......JP3???????????????

[jedr]

8. Never work for the Catholic Church:

They'll work you right up till your last day!

[valis]

10. He was picked by guys who aspire to be Popes

The idea is to pick somebody who's gonna be dead soon....

[Colorado Blue]

11. Quick! Get Tom Delay!

No doubt, he will Save The Day:)

[burn the bush]

13. let's sponge his mouth

[carnie_sf]

14. As far as I'm concerned

if his reign lasts one month, it's one month too long for those Opus Dei fascist pricks to be in control of the church

[ClintonTyree]

15. Oh great, another" Popeapalooza" in the near future...

I haven't recovered from the last one yet, if it is indeed over. Is it over?

I read the headlines this morning where he "stepped out on the balcony for the first time". :wow: now THERE'S some earth shattering news!

I don't want to go through another 24/7 Pope death watch again, ever. Keep him alive somehow.

[emad]

17. UK Bookies to start offering new odds on "JP3" after this story?

Wouldn't bet against it.

[suziedemocrat]

18. I feel sorry for him - Poor guy wants to retire to a quiet life!

Instead he gets all his Nazi past blasted in papers all over the world. I think he saw all that coming and maybe realized his past would compromise him as pope. I think the Catholic Church made a mistake with this one. But - what do I know - I don't go to Church anymore.