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CNN Live At Daybreak
Emotional Time for Pope John Paul II
Aired October 13, 2003 - 06:24 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: It is an emotional time for Pope John Paul II. It's his 25th anniversary. And while he celebrates with the world, those on the inside say the Vatican is looking for his successor.
Live to Rome now and Alessio Vinci -- good morning, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Well, no real talk of a successor or succession here, at least not openly, anyway. Vatican officials actually bending over backwards to make sure that this week's celebrations do not turn into a retirement party for the pope.
Yes, the pope is old and he's weak. He does suffer from a series of ailments. And, again, yesterday, on Sunday, when hew appeared on his, on the window of his study addressing the pilgrims, he did speak with some difficulty. He was, he took some long pauses. The pilgrims really applauding, trying to give him some strength.
There has been also, of course, recent reports that suggest that his health has been worsened, but we are not really seeing anything to substantiate that, simply because if you look at the sheer amount of work that the pope -- that awaits the pope in the next few days, it is incredible. There will be an open air mass on October the 16th to celebrate his 25th anniversary. That mass will last at least a couple of hours. There will be hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
On Sunday, another mass. That is a mass that is to celebrate the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Also, they are expected to participate during in St. Peter's Square more than 100,000 pilgrims. And then, if that were not enough, next week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the pope will chair a consistory, which is a meeting of all the cardinals, who are coming here, of course, to celebrate the pope, but also because the pope next week will elevate 31 new prelates to cardinalships.
So it's really an extremely busy week ahead for the pontiff and certainly one that does not suggest this is an old man or old, too old to participate in these very important events that he has set himself ahead of him -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll keep -- we'll try to keep up with him, anyway.
Alessio Vinci reporting 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 13, 2003 - 06:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is an emotional time for Pope John Paul II. It's his 25th anniversary. And while he celebrates with the world, those on the inside say the Vatican is looking for his successor.
Live to Rome now and Alessio Vinci -- good morning, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
Well, no real talk of a successor or succession here, at least not openly, anyway. Vatican officials actually bending over backwards to make sure that this week's celebrations do not turn into a retirement party for the pope.
Yes, the pope is old and he's weak. He does suffer from a series of ailments. And, again, yesterday, on Sunday, when hew appeared on his, on the window of his study addressing the pilgrims, he did speak with some difficulty. He was, he took some long pauses. The pilgrims really applauding, trying to give him some strength.
There has been also, of course, recent reports that suggest that his health has been worsened, but we are not really seeing anything to substantiate that, simply because if you look at the sheer amount of work that the pope -- that awaits the pope in the next few days, it is incredible. There will be an open air mass on October the 16th to celebrate his 25th anniversary. That mass will last at least a couple of hours. There will be hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
On Sunday, another mass. That is a mass that is to celebrate the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Also, they are expected to participate during in St. Peter's Square more than 100,000 pilgrims. And then, if that were not enough, next week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the pope will chair a consistory, which is a meeting of all the cardinals, who are coming here, of course, to celebrate the pope, but also because the pope next week will elevate 31 new prelates to cardinalships.
So it's really an extremely busy week ahead for the pontiff and certainly one that does not suggest this is an old man or old, too old to participate in these very important events that he has set himself ahead of him -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll keep -- we'll try to keep up with him, anyway.
Alessio Vinci reporting 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
