Wednesday, April 3, 2002

DECLARATIONS ON POPE'S KNEE PROBLEM, THE MIDDLE EAST


VATICAN CITY, APR 3, 2002 (VIS) - Two statements by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office, were made yesterday morning and released today in regard to Pope John Paul's knee problem and to the situation in the Middle East.

Relative to news stories that appeared concerning the Pope's possible admission to a hospital for his knee problem, he said: "I can confirm that the eventuality of an operation on the Holy Father's right knee has never been taken into consideration. There is no basis to any information regarding the presumed admittance of the Pope to a Rome clinic in order to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging. Nor is it true that any of the specialists whose names appeared in these articles have examined the Holy Father or been consulted."

Concerning the dramatic development of events in the Middle East, Navarro-Valls stated: "The Holy Father is constantly following the developments of the dramatic situation in the Middle East. In addition to his recent interventions, he has given indications to the apostolic nuncio in Israel and the apostolic delegate in Jerusalem to take opportune diplomatic initiatives. Also, through the Secretariat of State, diplomatic contacts have been made with different chancellery offices, including the United States, the State of Israel, the Arab League, the Palestinian Authority and European community institutions."

OP;POPE; MIDDLE EAST;...;NAVARRO-VALLS;VIS;20020403;Word: 230;

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