Pope asks faithful for prayers

POMPEII, Italy -- Pope John Paul II traveled Tuesday to a shrine near the ruins of ancient Pompeii, appearing alert, waving to crowds and asking the faithful to pray for him "today and always."

The pope spent only three hours in Pompeii after arriving from the Vatican in an Italian air force helicopter to pray for peace, but the visit defied skeptics who thought his travel days were over. It was a major test a week before he faces a packed schedule to mark a quarter-century as pope.

Just last month, the 83-year-old pontiff, stooped and slowed by Parkinson's disease and other ailments, struggled through a four-day pilgrimage to Slovakia, and a cardinal last week said John Paul was approaching his dying days.

John Paul's speech at the shrine in Pompeii was often halting, and he skipped portions of his address, with the crowd of 30,000 encouraging him with applause each time he halted.

But at the end of a 90-minute appearance, he seemed buoyed. He asked for the microphone and, sounding stronger, urged the faithful to "pray for me in this sanctuary, today and always."

The pilgrims packing the square in front of the sanctuary responded shouting "Viva il papa," meaning "Long live the pope."

John Paul had visited the shrine, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the rosary, a year after his election as pope in 1978 and has spoken often about wanting to return.

"As in the time of ancient Pompeii, it is necessary to announce Christ to a society that is moving away from Christian values and even losing the memory of them," the pope said.

"I wanted this pilgrimage of mine to carry the sense of an appeal for peace," he told the faithful after praying the rosary with them.

John Paul, who vigorously opposed the war in Iraq, lamented that the new millennium "is already lashed by the winds of war and stained with blood in so many regions of the world."

After an hour's flight from Vatican City, the helicopter carrying John Paul landed in a space in ancient Pompeii's ruins that was a gymnasium in Roman times. The city was buried in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

Along the route to the sanctuary, the pontiff sat in an upholstered chair in a white, open vehicle, waving constantly to joyous pilgrims.

Several dire assessments of his health recently by top prelates heightened concern over whether his physical frailty allows him to continue in the papacy.

An intestinal ailment forced John Paul to skip a public audience at the Vatican on Sept. 24.

The Vatican devised a mini-lift to allow the pope to get on and off helicopters. Parkinson's and hip and knee problems make it impossible for him to climb stairs to board.

"I love the pope. He's the most holy man on Earth," said Ella McLoughlin, a pilgrim from Worcester, Mass. "I think God still wants to use him. That's why he's still alive."

"I think the pope knows when he'll die. I will save this day for all my life in my heart," said a Polish pilgrim who gave her name only as Edwige.

The shrine draws 4 million faithful each year to Pompeii.