Pope John Paul II is suffering from a progressive paralysis that makes him “a prisoner of his own body,” the archbishop of Paris said in an interview published yesterday.
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, in unusually candid comments by a senior churchman on the pontiff’s health, emphasized that while the pope may have physical problems, he remains sound of mind.
“[We] know that his illness is leading to a progressive paralysis of the body, but his spiritual faculties remain intact,” the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying.
“This man, who used to be an athlete, is becoming more and more a prisoner of his own body.
“But he maintains a spiritual force, an intellectual capacity and a memory which are extraordinary for a man who will be 80 next month,” he said.
The pope, who maintains a grueling schedule despite his frailty, yesterday celebrated Easter Mass outdoors in St. Peter’s Square, moving across the plaza in a special, chariot-like cart equipped with railings he can grasp as its pushed by aides.
The pope, who suffers from hand and head tremors, is believed to have Parkinson’s disease, but the Vatican has never officially confirmed that.
Bishop Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops Conference, made a controversial suggestion earlier this year that John Paul might retire if his health problems interfered with his job – but Lustiger seemed sure that will not happen.
“He shows evidence of great freedom with respect to his physical limitations,” Lustiger said.