The Hindu : International : "Human life is never meaningless"

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Saturday, Apr 02, 2005

International

International

"Human life is never meaningless"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 1. Over the course of his 26-year pontificate, Pope John Paul II has turned from ``God's Athlete'' to a picture of human suffering. In what he himself described as his ``twilight years,'' the Pope has stressed that even the chronically ill retain human dignity.

As the Pope's condition took a sharp turn for the worse on Friday, his own remarks about sickness and mortality offer possible hints into how he is facing the last stages of his life.

``Even in the frailty of the last hour,'' the Pontiff said during a trip to Vienna in 1998, ``human life is never meaningless or useless.''

As he battled Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments over the last decade, the Pope has emphasised traditional Vatican teachings against euthanasia and in support of treatments that prolong life. But after his condition deteriorated on Thursday and he suffered septic shock and cardiovascular collapse, he chose not to be hospitalised.

``The Holy Father was informed from the first moment about the gravity of his situation and in that moment he decided to remain in his apartment at the Vatican where, however, a complete and efficient sanitary assistance is guaranteed,'' the Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said on Friday.

The Pope was a vigorous man when elected as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. His passion for hiking and skiing, and his past as a soccer player, earned him the nickname of ``God's Athlete.''

In recent years, his increasingly frail health has forced the Pontiff to slow down, cutting back on his trips, scaling down appearances and leaving much of his speeches during Vatican ceremonies to aides. ``Everybody will do all the best to keep him alive, to feed him the way it can be done,'' Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said on Thursday. Cardinal Martino added that his remarks reflected ``the teaching of the Pope.'' — AP

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"Human life is never meaningless"