Still weak from flu, pope sends emissary to read speech

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II was strong enough to turn the pages of written greetings Saturday and speak in a clear voice, a visitor said. But, still hospitalized and recovering from the flu, the pontiff sent an emissary to read a speech in his name at the Vatican.

In a hopeful sign that the 84-year-old pontiff would be well enough today to say a few words to a public apprehensive about his health, giant video screens were ordered to be set up in St. Peter's Square, where thousands of faithful were expected to gather to pray for his recovery.

Vatican broadcast technicians were told to prepare for a possible video or audio connection with Gemelli Polyclinic, the hospital where the pope was rushed to on Tuesday night by worried aides after he developed breathing problems during a bout with the flu.

Whether the hookup with the hospital takes place depends on the pope's condition today, Vatican officials indicated.

Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, who, with three other clerics, visited John Paul in his 10th floor hospital apartment, described the pope as alert, communicative and grateful for prayers of support.

"You can understand him easily," Paglia told reporters at the hospital. He said the pontiff turned the pages of a letter of well-wishes signed by dozens of Christian clerics who had prayed for the pope in a hospital chapel.

The Vatican has said the pope is improving, but has provided few concrete details of the pope's day-to-day progress.

since he was admitted with what it said was voicebox spasms and an inflamed windpipe.

On Saturday evening, John Paul watched from a TV in his hospital room a ceremony for seminarians in a Vatican auditorium, a member of the papal entourage at the hospital said.

A Vatican official read the pope's prepared written address to the seminarians. Originally, John Paul was scheduled to deliver the speech himself.

Shouts of "Vive il papa!" (long live the pope!) punctuated the ceremony, with seminarians and choir members at one point breaking into foot-stomping, hand-clapping rounds of chanting John Paul's name in Italian.

Noon is the hour the pontiff customarily appears at his studio window overlooking the square on Sundays, and thousands of pilgrims and Romans usually turn out to receive the pope's blessing and listen to remarks about faith or current events.

Failure to see or hear the pope at that traditional hour would likely deepen worry about the pope's prospects for rebounding from his latest setback to his ailing health.

Just a week earlier, John Paul had made one of his more memorable window appearances in his 26-year-old papacy, as he chuckled with delight when releasing a peace dove from the window and playfully patted the head of a boy standing next to him. He struggled, apparently with a nasal drip, as he spoke at that time.

For at least a decade, John Paul has had Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder which hampers proper muscle functioning and which could have played a role in the voice box spasms that made it difficult for him to breathe.

The Vatican on Saturday said U.S. Cardinal James Stafford would preside in the name of the pope at an Ash Wednesday prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica. The service had been scheduled before the pope's illness in place of his regular general audience.

John Paul's fourth night in the hospital passed calmly, Vatican Radio reported Saturday.

"The pope is happy for the prayer. The pope is getting better -- he is happy. We hope that he can return soon to take up his normal activities again," Paglia said.

The Vatican hasn't said when the pope might be released from the hospital, but his spokesman earlier in the week suggested he would stay for roughly a week.