Posted on 02/07/2005 7:17:20 AM PST by Rutles4Ever
THE Pope was just 10 minutes from death when he was rushed to hospital last week, a report has revealed.
The Pope's condition was far graver than his spokesman let on, according to the US magazine Inside the Vatican due out this week. He twice refused to be taken to hospital by a helicopter, the report said.
The Pope "shook his head decisively" after his powerful personal aide, Bishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, first suggested he go to hospital and then refused a second request from his doctor, Renato Buzzonetti.
Eventually, after another coughing fit that caused the Pope to gasp for breath, he relented.
"He had a feeling like he was suffocating," the report said.
About 10.15pm he was taken to the Gemelli Hospital where a suite of vacant rooms on the 10th floor are kept ready 24 hours a day for papal emergencies.
It was the same ambulance that took him to the same hospital after he was shot in 1981.
Inside the Vatican says the Pope was taken to the hospital's intensive care unit until his breathing spasms subsided - an action that also contradicted the account given by Vatican officials.
"We got him by a breath," one medico tells the magazine
Another says: "If he had come in 10 minutes later he would have been gone."
The Pope's long-time spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls repeatedly played down the Pope's illness, declaring there was "nothing alarming" and that he had had a "slight fever".
Medical experts in Rome say that part of the Pope's breathing problem was caused by his curved posture and general lack of mobility for a number of years.
He has difficulty breathing because his lung cavity is under pressure, according to doctors, but this was exacerbated by the severe flu the Pope contracted over a week ago.
The health scare has prompted renewed speculation about the Catholic leader's ability to fulfil his duties over the coming months, and discussion about setting a retirement age of 75 for ageing pontiffs.
There was speculation in Rome last night the Pope may issue blessing at his weekly Angelus prayer from his hospital room.
Communication links were in place and the windows were washed on the top floor hospital suite occupied by the Pope.
"The holy father does not want to miss the Angelus prayer with the faithful," said Navarro-Valls in a statement which added that, while the prayer would be recited by an aide, the Pope would "impart his Apostolic blessing".
A hospital worker cleaned windows in the Pope's top floor suite overlooking a courtyard where television cameramen have set up their equipment, leading to speculation that the Pope would make a brief personal appearance as well as delivering the blessing.
Man, that's scary.
Don't doubt this too much. Would imagine that the Vatican has a bang-up medical facility on the grounds & the step of taking the Pope to a hospital revealed quite a lot about the seriousness of his condition.
It's just scary that a bout of flu put him at death's door. That's the reality of his age and condition.
Such a close brush with death is what I mean. Plus, Its hard to imagine a worse way to go than suffocation.
It is especially hard for me to watch such a good man in pain.
I know this may offend some, but for me, this is up there with Reagan's illness and eventual death. Its hard, hard, hard to accept.
Most of us don't know what we have until it's gone...
Well, let's see: choking; can't breathe; pneumonia; and ten minutes away from death. That would scare the bejeezus out of me, and I wouldn't even have to consult my Baltimore Catechism to figure out why.
It's not, really. Everyone dies. To a Christian, his own death is the most important event in his life, because it is at that moment that his eternal destiny is realized.
This has been a very long pontificate, one of the longest in history, and many people don't remember any Pope before JP2. He was elected when I was high school; now I'm middle-aged, have gray hair, and my eldest child is getting ready for high school.
I've read on other threads that "Deep Throat" was near to death. You don't suppose...
Immolation. That'd be worse. Just posting.
The Pope's great historical partner Ronald Reagan was also 10 minutes from death once. Don't count out this great man. God bless him and give him strength.
And, like the rest of us, he is only one paycheck away from homelessness.
This would not be surprising. John Allen, NCR's Vatican reporter, said on CNN last week that "we have entered a new phase in the Pope's decline. There will be fewer, if any, visible recoveries, and the Pope will likely never travel outside the Vatican again."
Thanks for the ping. I heard this on FoxNews Channel this morning with Greg Burke reporting.
It's good to pray for someone's healing.
But I wonder why it's so surprising that the Pope might die someday.
"...It was Pope John Paul, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan who were most instrumental in the downfall of the Soviet Union and Communism in Eastern Europe..."
I would add Alexander Solzhenitsyn to that list.
Actually, you wouldn't feel a thing. After a short while of being unable to breathe, you would pass out (which sometimes helps relax the airway and as such may help your cause). If you expired you would simply slip away slowly and quietly. It is probably one of the better ways of going. Of course the reason for your asphyxiation could make it more or less traumatic in the beginning (e.g. health condition vs. someone trying to choke you), but in the end the same music and credits play.
Either way, it won't matter much to you a 100 years from now ;-)
That "short while of being unable to breathe" could get a might unsettling. Probably wouldn't seem too "short" to the non-breather, either.
Most of us don't know what we have until it's gone...
likewise...
Most of us don't know what we WILL have until WE'RE gone...
I get asthma attacks from certain chemicals. Things that mess with your breathing are very frightening.
The "death watch" for the Pope is worse than the "death watch" for Cheney.
Not surprising...just sad at the parting.
I'm not Catholic either, but I would guess some reasons would be a natural human attachment and not wanting to lose a great man and a moral hero.
I agree. Just look at the picture that you posted. How many people the Pope's age could read something that close to their face? Unless he's wearing bifocal contacts ...........
Obviously the writer doesn't understand that the only way this will ever happen is if the Pope orders it. Does the term Supreme Pontiff mean anything? Or is that just from the Left Behind series.
Yeah what is it with famous people and the hype and lies about their illness. Johnny Carson was deathly ill for at least 10 days before his death,The Pope was mins away from death,and Dick Clark and his supposed min-stroke he suffered. B.S.. My father suffered a massive stroke and was paralyzed on his right side and lost his speech at 37 and was in and out of the hospital for 2 years.
Clark come to find out has suffered a series of mini-strokes, can't speak at all, and has tons of diabetic issues.
Just tell the truth when something like this happens...we are all humans and can take it...sheesh.
Flesh Eating Bacteria. That would be awful.
Lech Walesa
LOL! Oh, for crying out loud!!
What?
The only "scary" thing about this is that people don't have the faith in God to believe that He is taking care of the Pope. We all go when God calls us and God doesn't stand on ceremony. What we should take from this is that we should be ready to meet our Maker at all times.
RIght! I'll add him too.
And still no glasses! Amazing.
You asked the questions: "I know little about Catholcism , why would the popes death be scary? I am not trying to be rude, just wondering?".
For one, the death of a Pope is heart-breaking for Catholics around the world, this one especially. People love this Pope, and will be sad when he passes and goes to meet his Heavenly Father.
There are those, however, who are not looking forward to this pope's passing...mostly because of prophecies in the long-distant past. I can't remember where I saw it, but there is a prophecy out there that predicts that either the next Pope or the one after will be the LAST Pope, and possibly in league with the Antichrist. If I recall, this prophecy correctly named ALL the Popes, and what their reigns would be known for...AND it was done in the Middle Ages.
What that means is...some believe that after JP2 dies, the end of the world will not be far off, possibly in our lifetime.
How's THAT for a conspiracy theory? Perhaps one of our Freeper bretheren can locate that prophecy? I'm sure it's on the 'Net somewhere.
that prophecy is by St. Malachy, but their is ample reason to believe that it is a forgery created hundreds of years later. I'm not runling it out 100%, but I wouldn't trust it myself.
runling=ruling
Tell me why some traditional Catholics don't except this pope?
An important reason why we should continue to pray for the sick, our priests, vocations and for our holy father.
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