Vatican City: Pope John Paul, his voice still weak, delivered his first Sunday blessing since leaving hospital last week and through an aide thanked the world for praying for his recovery.
The 84-year-old pontiff spoke briefly in a hoarse voice as he appeared at his window in the Vatican. Aides delivered almost all of his weekly address.
However, the Pope looked and sounded better than he did at Rome's Gemelli hospital on the previous Sunday, when he was barely able to speak.
"I want to thank you for being close to me, for your affection and above all, the prayers during the days of my stay at the Gemelli hospital," said the message, read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Vatican Deputy Secretary of State.
"I always feel the need for your help . . . to complete the mission that Jesus has entrusted to me." It was believed to be the first time since his 1978 election that the Pope did not deliver the Sunday message while at the Vatican.
The pontiff was discharged from Gemelli on Thursday after 10 days of treatment for severe breathing problems linked to influenza. He also suffers from Parkinson's disease, severe arthritis, and can no longer walk.
The Vatican, to indicate it was business as usual, announced a flurry of appointments late last week.
Pope John Paul also returned to politics yesterday as an aide read his appeal for the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who was taken hostage in Baghdad on February 4th.
"While I continue to pray for peace in the Middle East, I make a distressed appeal for the liberation of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, along with all of the hostages in Iraq," the message said.
- (Reuters)