Pope completes 100th pilgrimage

RIJEKA, Croatia -- Fighting fatigue but determined to carry on, Pope John Paul II wrapped up his 100th foreign pilgrimage Monday amid nagging questions about how long he can endure the rigors of the road.

A trip to Mongolia in August is up in the air, but the 83-year-old pope sets out again in less than two weeks for Bosnia, where he won't be able to count on the adoring crowds he found in his grueling five-day tour of Croatia.

John Paul got a spirited send-off Monday from more than 100,000 euphoric pilgrims who chanted, "You are ours and we are yours!" at his final stop in the coastal city of Zadar before returning to Rome.

The pope capped his third visit to Croatia with a stirring tribute to the former Yugoslav republic's struggle to overcome nationalism, hatred and bitterness after its 1991 war for independence.

"I remember your sufferings caused by the war, which are still visible on your faces and are affecting your lives," he told a crowd assembled on a seaside promenade.

"I am close to all those who are enduring the tragic consequences of that war. I know your strength, your courage and your faith -- and I am sure that your continuing efforts will enable you to see better days," the pope said.

John Paul seemed to draw strength from the large crowds of pilgrims who greeted him across overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Croatia.

But the visit and the withering heat severely tested the pope's stamina and resolve to go to his far-flung flock -- a hallmark of his nearly 25-year papacy.

Perked up

The pope suffers from Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments, and uses a special hydraulic chair so he can celebrate Mass while seated. He looked drawn and tired Monday and slurred some of his words, but perked up when pilgrims clapped and shouted his name.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls conceded that the Croatia trip had been "very stressful" for John Paul.

At one point, the pope alluded to his own mortality by leaving a rosary at a shrine and asking the faithful to "pray for me during my life and even after my death."

The Vatican is expected later this week to say whether the pope will press ahead with the trip to Mongolia, home to just 170 Catholics. His aides have expressed concern that the long flight would be too hard on the pope, and the fruits of the visit too small to justify the effort.

The SARS outbreak in Asia is also a concern, Monsignor Renato Boccardo, the Vatican's trip planner, told the French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview published Monday. He said the pope could go to Mongolia later if August's trip doesn't come off.

"The pope wants to go until the end," he said. "He is determined. He travels the world to announce the Gospel -- the simplest and at the same time most difficult thing."

Efforts are under way to arrange a stop in Russia to allow John Paul to return an icon -- making him the first pope to visit that country. His attempts to tour Russia have been stymied by the Russian Orthodox Church, which sees the Vatican as trying to expand its influence in traditionally Orthodox lands.

On June 22, the pope makes a day trip to the Bosnian Serb stronghold of Banja Luka, where he can expect an icy reception from Orthodox Serbs.

Bosnia's 1992-95 war made enemies of the country's Serbs, Croats and Muslims, and ethnic tensions still run deep. Many Serbs see John Paul's visit as a political statement in support of Croats and say he's not welcome in Banja Luka, administrative center of the Bosnian Serb mini-state.

In Bosnia, the pontiff will beatify Ivan Merz, a Bosnian Croat who took a vow of celibacy and devoted his life to the Catholic Church in the early 1900s.

As a fellow Slav, the Polish-born John Paul has shown a soft spot for the Balkans. His visit to Croatia was a spiritual triumph, but the euphoria already was fading Monday.

"The pope preaches universal values, but they are forgotten after 48 hours," said Ivan Siber, a Croat political analyst.

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Croatian papal visit, www.pope.hr