Pope Begins Losing Consciousness, Cardinals Start to Gather
The ailing Pope John Paul II showed the first signs of losing consciousness early Saturday, the Vatican said, as the faithful around the world continued to pray and prepare for his passing.
The ailing Pope John Paul II showed the first signs of losing consciousness early Saturday, the Vatican said, as the faithful around the world continued to pray and prepared for his passing.
"Since dawn this morning there have been first signs that consciousness is being affected," papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said to reporters.
The 84-year-old pontiff, who was hospitalized twice in the last month for health complications, fell into a “very grave” condition beginning Thursday. According to Vatican officials, John Paul suffered a urinary tract infection and later showed signs of heart and kidney failure.
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However, the Pope was not in a coma, and his eyes were open when he spoke to his aids, reporters on-scene said.
"Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you speak to him, he opens his eyes," Navarro-Valls said, according to the Associated Press.
John Paul was speaking as of late Friday, commenting on the thousands of youth who gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for him.
Navarro-Valls said the pope appeared to be referring to the youth when he said: "'I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.'"
He was not speaking as of Saturday morning however, and did not take part when Mass was celebrated that day.
"The general cardio-respiratory and metabolic conditions are substantially unvaried and therefore very grave," Navarro-Valls said.
Meanwhile, cardinals from around the world began heading to Rome, most likely in preparation for the pontiff’s death. Cardinals hold a clandestine meeting between 15 and 20 days after the passing of a pope in order to choose a successor from among their numbers.
“After he passes away, the College of Cardinals will meet,” explained Mark Brumley, author on Pope John Paul II. “The cardinals are literally locked up in the Sistine chapel until they can vote on a successor.
“A two-thirds vote is needed in the choice,” Brumley explained. “But if they go 12 days into this, the cardinals may change the rule and elect with a simple majority.
“We don’t know if it will take that long, but in this century the process typically took two to four days.”
Brumley, the president of Ignatius Press – the largest Catholic book publishing company in America, further explained that should the Pope fall into unconsciousness and until the cardinals meet in his passing, the cardinal secretary of state Angelo Sodano will remain in charge.
“The present cardinals who are in charge of Vatican offices will continue their operations, but there can’t be any major changes,” said Brumley. “The secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, is in charge if the pope does fall into unconsciousness.”
Meanwhile, tourists and pilgrims from around the world streamed into St. Peter’s Square Saturday, and millions more prayed in local sanctuaries.
"Now he prepares to meet the Lord," Cardinal Francis George said at a Mass in Chicago on Friday. "As the portals of death open for him, as they will for each of us ... we must accompany him with our own prayers."
