Slovak President Rudolf Schuster kisses John Paul II's hand after the Pope's outdoor mass September 13, 2003 in Roznava, Slovakia.
Even though he has been ill with Parkinson's Disease for many years, the Pope refuses to abandon his exhausting schedule, which would overwhelm men a third his age, continuing to visit nation after nation, to spread the word of Christ.
The Pontiff also suffers from arthrititis and the after-effects of the 1981 assassination attempt. In 1992 he had a tumour in his colon removed; two years later, he underwent hip replacement surgery. He also dislocated his shoulder in 1993, broke his femur in 1994 and had his appendix excised in 1996.
During his visit to Slovakia last month the Pope -- who has refused to let his speeches be read out by anyone else despite the sadly debilitating effects of Parkinson's Disease -- could not read some of his addresses to the faithful.
A fortnight later, on September 28, he canceled his weekly audience, a rare occurrence in the quarter century of his Pontificate.
The Vatican said the Pope, now 83, had mild 'intestinal problems' and canceled the audience on medical advice. 'I am sorry for not being with you,' John Paul told the laity in a television appearance from his vacation home at Castel Gandolfo, in 'a weak voice and slurring his words.'
The Pope is nearing 'the last days and months of his life,' Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, told Austrian broadcaster ORF on October 3. 'The entire world is experiencing a Pope who is sick, who is disabled and who is dying...'
But, according to the Australian portal www.news.com, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer came away from a meeting with the Pope relieved that the Pontiff's health seemed better than recent reports had suggested. 'It's not like in the media. He is not on the brink,' Downer said after a private audience in the Vatican.
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