The Hindu : International : Pope considered resigning in 2000

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Friday, Apr 08, 2005

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International

Pope considered resigning in 2000

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 7. Pope John Paul II suggested in his last will and testament that he considered the possibility of resigning in 2000, at a time when he was already ailing and when the Roman Catholic Church began its new millennium.

The document, which the Vatican released on Thursday, also said he had left no material property and had asked that all his personal notes be burned. It mentioned only two living people: his personal secretary and the chief rabbi of Rome who welcomed him to Rome's synagogue in 1986.

The Pope in 1982 also had considered the possibility of a funeral in Poland, asking that the opinion of his fellow countrymen be taken into account by the cardinals. Three years later, he said the cardinals had no obligation to sound out the Poles but could do so.

The Pope, who died on Saturday at 84, will be buried under St. Peter's Basilica on Friday after a funeral in the square.

John Paul wrote the testament over the course of his 26-year pontificate, starting in 1979, the year after he was elected.

The last entry was in 2000. It was written in his native Polish and translated by the Vatican into Italian.

Writing in 2000, when the effects of his Parkinson's disease were already apparent, he suggested the time was one of apparent torment for him, mentioning the 1981 attempt on his life. He called his survival a ``miracle.''

Now that he had reached 80, he said it was time to ask himself about a biblical phrase referring to Simeon who, after blessing Christ when he was a child, said ``now Master you may let your servant go.''

John Paul said he hoped the Lord ``would help me to recognise how long I must continue this service to which he called me the day of 16 October, 1978.'' But he appeared to answer his doubts by leaving it to God, who he said had saved him after the 1981 assassination attempt, to ``re-call him when He saw fit.''

Security tightened

Tucked behind ancient walls and iron gates, Vatican City is protected by Swiss Guards armed with sabers, a small but efficient secret service packing handguns and a special Italian police corps.

Neither their manpower nor their firepower is any match for the security nightmare confronting the Vatican as it prepares to lay Pope John Paul II to rest.

But Rome's police chief, his forces steeled and on high alert for any plot to disrupt the funeral, insisted he's ready.

``We have no time to be afraid,'' the chief, Marcello Fulvi, told reporters Thursday, clenching his fists on his desk as he ticked off a long list of security and surveillance measures designed to thwart terrorists. Asked about the possibility of a terrorist strike, he said police ``do not have precise signals.''

As officials rushed to make final preparations for the funeral and tighten security for the U.S. President, George W. Bush, and leaders from more than 80 other countries, Rome's Mayor prepared to lock down the capital as a precaution.

The U.S. delegation includes the former President, George H.W. Bush, and the former President, Bill Clinton, and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Among others attending are Britain's Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair; U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan; French President Jacques Chirac; German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder; Mexican President Vicente Fox; and 150 other leaders and royals. — AP

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