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CNN Live Saturday
Pope John Paul II Struggles Through Mass Today
Aired September 13, 2003 - 14:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II struggled through a long mass in Slovakia today appearing especially feeble. The 83-year-old pontiff slumped in his chair and his left hand trembled more than usual during the two and a half hour service.
The four-day trip ends tomorrow with an open air mass in the capital. CNN's Alessio Vinci is traveling with the Pope and joins us by telephone from the capital, Bratislava -- Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. We again witnessed an extremely weak Pope today as he traveled to a small town in eastern Slovakia in front of a crowd of some 100,000 people. He had a hard time pronouncing the prayers, breathing heavily, made portions of his prayer twice, didn't read his homily entirely, asking a bishop to read it for him.
With that said the Pope did manage to preside over the entire ceremony and again a complete an exhausting day which saw him on the road for 12 hours. He managed to hold a mass and meet with local bishops. In the old days, one day on the road would be filled with several events and the Pope would deliver more than one speech.
Despite the frail health and obvious physical limitations were making each trip now outside the Vatican a not only complicated but also a logistical nightmare since he cannot move on his own, Vatican officials are telling us he will continue to travel and has already in mind four new trips for next year including one to France.
They also point out that it is the Pope who insists on traveling so much. Often against the advice of his doctors and close associates -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Alessio, we're looking at the pictures of a huge, massive crowd there. Is about what they expected or is there any way of monitoring whether this is up or down from what the expectations were?
VINCI: This is a Pope that still manages to draw large crowds, I mean, you know, and again among the 100,000 people today, there were thousands also from neighboring countries, from Hungary and also from his native Poland north of here, waving flags and encouraging him to go on, many of them traveled fearing perhaps this was their last chance to see him.
And the Pope, who indicates is well aware of what's going on, thanked them, these were pleasing his heart. They come by the hundreds of thousands sometimes just to get a glimpse at him. It's incredible, sometimes when we arrive at the airport, just to be able to see the Pope for a few seconds people wait in line for hours. It is really incredible.
WHITFIELD: Wow, Alessio Vinci, on the telephone with us from Slovakia. Thanks very much for that report. As the Pope wraps up his four-day journey there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 13, 2003 - 14:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II struggled through a long mass in Slovakia today appearing especially feeble. The 83-year-old pontiff slumped in his chair and his left hand trembled more than usual during the two and a half hour service.
The four-day trip ends tomorrow with an open air mass in the capital. CNN's Alessio Vinci is traveling with the Pope and joins us by telephone from the capital, Bratislava -- Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. We again witnessed an extremely weak Pope today as he traveled to a small town in eastern Slovakia in front of a crowd of some 100,000 people. He had a hard time pronouncing the prayers, breathing heavily, made portions of his prayer twice, didn't read his homily entirely, asking a bishop to read it for him.
With that said the Pope did manage to preside over the entire ceremony and again a complete an exhausting day which saw him on the road for 12 hours. He managed to hold a mass and meet with local bishops. In the old days, one day on the road would be filled with several events and the Pope would deliver more than one speech.
Despite the frail health and obvious physical limitations were making each trip now outside the Vatican a not only complicated but also a logistical nightmare since he cannot move on his own, Vatican officials are telling us he will continue to travel and has already in mind four new trips for next year including one to France.
They also point out that it is the Pope who insists on traveling so much. Often against the advice of his doctors and close associates -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Alessio, we're looking at the pictures of a huge, massive crowd there. Is about what they expected or is there any way of monitoring whether this is up or down from what the expectations were?
VINCI: This is a Pope that still manages to draw large crowds, I mean, you know, and again among the 100,000 people today, there were thousands also from neighboring countries, from Hungary and also from his native Poland north of here, waving flags and encouraging him to go on, many of them traveled fearing perhaps this was their last chance to see him.
And the Pope, who indicates is well aware of what's going on, thanked them, these were pleasing his heart. They come by the hundreds of thousands sometimes just to get a glimpse at him. It's incredible, sometimes when we arrive at the airport, just to be able to see the Pope for a few seconds people wait in line for hours. It is really incredible.
WHITFIELD: Wow, Alessio Vinci, on the telephone with us from Slovakia. Thanks very much for that report. As the Pope wraps up his four-day journey there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
