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CNN Live At Daybreak

The Pope's Health: New Reports

Aired October 03, 2003 - 06:50   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In recent days there have been new reports about the frail health of Pope John Paul II.
Our Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher is one of only two journalists who had a private meeting with the Pope. She joins us live from our bureau in Rome.

Good morning.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know the latest -- the latest quote that we are getting comes from a European cardinal who said "Pope John Paul II is dying," and he said "the Pope was approaching the last days and months of his life." Is that overstating it?

GALLAGHER: Well it's just a comment that's been taken out of context, Carol. What's happening here, there's been a bit of flap because cardinals are giving interviews in anticipation of the Pope's 25th anniversary. They're giving very long, hour-long interviews, a whole review of the Pontificate. In the course of those interviews, of course they say now as we're nearing the end of the Pontificate and as the Pope is nearing the end of his days, but it's not necessarily a reference to something urgent that's happening with the Pope's health at this moment.

As I saw yesterday, the Pope is about the same as we've seen him in the past few weeks. He is still carrying on all of his public appearances. And as long as he continues to do that, there is really no major concern. And there is certainly no concern in the Vatican.

So what you are hearing from the cardinals is part of a larger context, a larger discussion and interview on the whole Papacy and this Pontificate, in particular. So we can't take that to mean that these cardinals are referring to something urgent and imminent within the Pope's health at this time.

COSTELLO: Well, Delia, you sat down one on one, had a meeting with him face to face. He seems so very frail to most of us.

GALLAGHER: Well he is, certainly. There's no doubt that physically he is very frail. And this is a cause of -- this has been caused by his age and by his Parkinson's disease and the various other ailments. But what you see when you see him face to face is that mentally he is still alert. He is able to look at you, follow your conversation and to respond. And this is the important thing that if mentally he is able to continue, then that's what everybody is looking for. But there is no doubt that physically his body is failing him.

COSTELLO: Yes, I guess I'm struggling to understand why the Vatican becomes so upset every time someone says this. I mean he is 83 years old. He is obviously in poor health and he probably doesn't have much longer, as sad as that is.

GALLAGHER: Exactly. And remember that the Pope himself throughout this year has said several times on several occasions pray for me as the time in which I will see God comes nearer. So the Pope is the first person to say yes, the time is coming nearer. But when that time will be, nobody can know.

COSTELLO: Well what drives him to keep on traveling, because that must be difficult for him?

GALLAGHER: Well I think part of it is he likes to get out of the Vatican. This is a Pope who loves to go out and meet the people. And it actually gives him energy. You see that it reinvigorates him when he travels, even though he still has that tiredness and the physical difficulties, mentally he becomes much more reinvigorated when he travels.

Nonetheless, I think that international travel schedule will be calming down a bit. He's got a trip on Tuesday to the south of Italy, but that's just a one-day trip. So we're seeing a slight lessening of those heavy international trips. But he is still maintaining a public schedule here at the Vatican, which is quite heavy.

COSTELLO: OK, Delia, you sat down with him in a room alone. We want to know what's he really like?

GALLAGHER: He's wonderful. You know it's impossible to convey a certain sense of real intensity that he conveys. Even at this old age, the way that he is able to gaze at you is quite incredible and everybody comments on it. I have met him several times, of course, and you would think that the more you meet him, the more cynical you get, the less interesting it is. But he still continues to be able to really give you that one-on-one attention, which is quite incredible considering the number of people that he meets.

COSTELLO: All right. Delia Gallagher, many thanks, live from Rome this morning.

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 October 3, 2003 - 06:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In recent days there have been new reports about the frail health of Pope John Paul II.
Our Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher is one of only two journalists who had a private meeting with the Pope. She joins us live from our bureau in Rome.

Good morning.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know the latest -- the latest quote that we are getting comes from a European cardinal who said "Pope John Paul II is dying," and he said "the Pope was approaching the last days and months of his life." Is that overstating it?

GALLAGHER: Well it's just a comment that's been taken out of context, Carol. What's happening here, there's been a bit of flap because cardinals are giving interviews in anticipation of the Pope's 25th anniversary. They're giving very long, hour-long interviews, a whole review of the Pontificate. In the course of those interviews, of course they say now as we're nearing the end of the Pontificate and as the Pope is nearing the end of his days, but it's not necessarily a reference to something urgent that's happening with the Pope's health at this moment.

As I saw yesterday, the Pope is about the same as we've seen him in the past few weeks. He is still carrying on all of his public appearances. And as long as he continues to do that, there is really no major concern. And there is certainly no concern in the Vatican.

So what you are hearing from the cardinals is part of a larger context, a larger discussion and interview on the whole Papacy and this Pontificate, in particular. So we can't take that to mean that these cardinals are referring to something urgent and imminent within the Pope's health at this time.

COSTELLO: Well, Delia, you sat down one on one, had a meeting with him face to face. He seems so very frail to most of us.

GALLAGHER: Well he is, certainly. There's no doubt that physically he is very frail. And this is a cause of -- this has been caused by his age and by his Parkinson's disease and the various other ailments. But what you see when you see him face to face is that mentally he is still alert. He is able to look at you, follow your conversation and to respond. And this is the important thing that if mentally he is able to continue, then that's what everybody is looking for. But there is no doubt that physically his body is failing him.

COSTELLO: Yes, I guess I'm struggling to understand why the Vatican becomes so upset every time someone says this. I mean he is 83 years old. He is obviously in poor health and he probably doesn't have much longer, as sad as that is.

GALLAGHER: Exactly. And remember that the Pope himself throughout this year has said several times on several occasions pray for me as the time in which I will see God comes nearer. So the Pope is the first person to say yes, the time is coming nearer. But when that time will be, nobody can know.

COSTELLO: Well what drives him to keep on traveling, because that must be difficult for him?

GALLAGHER: Well I think part of it is he likes to get out of the Vatican. This is a Pope who loves to go out and meet the people. And it actually gives him energy. You see that it reinvigorates him when he travels, even though he still has that tiredness and the physical difficulties, mentally he becomes much more reinvigorated when he travels.

Nonetheless, I think that international travel schedule will be calming down a bit. He's got a trip on Tuesday to the south of Italy, but that's just a one-day trip. So we're seeing a slight lessening of those heavy international trips. But he is still maintaining a public schedule here at the Vatican, which is quite heavy.

COSTELLO: OK, Delia, you sat down with him in a room alone. We want to know what's he really like?

GALLAGHER: He's wonderful. You know it's impossible to convey a certain sense of real intensity that he conveys. Even at this old age, the way that he is able to gaze at you is quite incredible and everybody comments on it. I have met him several times, of course, and you would think that the more you meet him, the more cynical you get, the less interesting it is. But he still continues to be able to really give you that one-on-one attention, which is quite incredible considering the number of people that he meets.

COSTELLO: All right. Delia Gallagher, many thanks, live from Rome this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com