Pope’s health seriously weakened

“I end my pilgrimage here.”

Pope John Paul II’s visit to Lourdes seemed to be particularly moving for those present. Cardinal Danneels seems to think that the Pope’s visit was more of a conclusion than any mere pilgrimage:

‘It was one of the most moving celebrations ever,’ Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who is seen as a leading contender to succeed John Paul, was quoted as saying in the Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws.

‘The Pope’s health has seriously weakened. When the Pope says: ‘I end my pilgrimage here’, that could mean two things. That, at least was how people listening to him in the field interpreted it. It was almost his goodbye to Lourdes and maybe also to his life,’ Danneels added.

I hope that when Pope John Paul II passes away, his corpus can be collected and truly appreciated by the Church for what it is. Not since Leo XIII has the Church been so blessed by such a prolific and intensive papacy.