POPE SPENT RESTFUL NIGHT, GENERAL CONDITIONS ARE "POSITIVE"

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2005 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls released the following statement late this morning to journalists about the Holy Father's health:

  "The Holy Father's general and respiratory conditions show positive developments.

  "The acute laryngeal-tracheitis is regressing and there have been no repetitions of the episodes of laryngospasm that were the reason for his being admitted to the hospital.

  "The Holy Father spent the night resting quietly.

  "At 12 noon tomorrow, Friday, a new communique will be published."

  Navarro-Valls arrived at Gemelli Polyclinic shortly before 9 this morning. Following a visit to the papal apartments, he met with reporters, telling them that "the Holy Father rested well last night, and laboratory results are satisfactory." He said, "it will be the doctors who decide" how long the Pope will remain at Gemelli. Navarro-Valls, also a doctor, added that, "from my experience, I think his stay could be about seven days."

  Prayers, and wishes for a speedy and complete recovery have arrived from around the world for John Paul II, who was hospitalized in Rome Tuesday evening with respiratory problems.

  More than 700 Polish pilgrims who expected to attend yesterday's weekly general audience offered two bouquets of red and white roses, the colors of the Polish flag, to the Pope. A priest and a nun from the Pope's native land delivered them. Those pilgrims gathered in prayer in St. Peter's Square, whereas a number of Poles residing in Rome have decided to undertake a pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo to the shrine of St. Padre Pio. Prayer vigils were held in a number of Roman churches, including the Polish church of St. Stanislaw.

  Fifteen red roses were also brought to the hospital for the Pope by a delegation of residents of towns that have been built on land, now part of Poland, adjacent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
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PAPAL LETTER TO ACADEMY ON ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2005 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from the Holy Father to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in which he notes that the academy "has chosen to dedicate this session of the Study Group - as on two earlier occasions during the 1980s - to a theme of particular complexity and importance: that of the 'signs of death', in the context of the practice of transplanting organs from deceased persons."

  He speaks of the Church's "constant and informed interest in the development of the surgical practice of organ transplant, intended to save human lives from imminent death and to allow the sick to continue living for a further period of years." She has  "encouraged the free donation of organs, ... underlined the ethical conditions for such donation," and "indicated the duties of the specialists who carry out this procedure of organ transplant."

  John Paul II says there must be "ongoing research on the technical-scientific level" by those who perform transplants and "a constant dialogue with experts in anthropological and ethical disciplines, so as to guarantee respect for life and for the human person."

  He turns to the question of "'the signs of death' on the basis of which a person's clinical death can be established with moral certainty, in order to proceed with the removal of organs for transplant. Within the horizon of Christian anthropology, it is well known that the moment of death for each person consists in the definitive loss of the constitutive unity of body and spirit.

  "From the clinical point of view, however, the only correct way - and also the only possible way - to address the problem of ascertaining the death of a human being is by devoting attention and research to the individuation of adequate 'signs of death', known through their physical manifestation in the individual subject. ... Pius XII declared that 'it is for the doctor to give a clear and precise definition of 'death' and of the 'moment of death' of a patient who lapses into a state of unconsciousness'."

  He assures academy members they will be aided in their research by offices of the Apostolic See, "especially the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."
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THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL ARDOR IS THE EUCHARIST

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2005 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica yesterday, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Archbishop Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, presided at a Eucharistic celebration in the Pope's name.

  Before the start of Mass, the liturgy of light took place, with the blessing of candles and the procession. Following a recitation from the Gospel, Archbishop Rode read a message from the Holy Father.

  "Today we celebrate the Ninth Day of Consecrated Life," writes John Paul II in his Message, "a propitious occasion for giving thanks to the Lord together with those who have been called by Him to practice the evangelical counsels."

  After recalling that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the decree "Perfectae caritatis," by which "Vatican Council II laid down the guiding principles for the renewal of consecrated life," the Pope affirms: "Over these 40 years, in keeping with the guidelines of the Church's Magisterium, the institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life have followed a fruitful road of renewal. ... I am certain that, thanks also to this aggiornamento, the fruits of sanctity and of missionary dedication will grow, so long as consecrated people maintain an unchanged ascetic fervor and turn it into apostolic works."

  "The secret of this spiritual ardor," the Holy Father writes, "is the Eucharist, the inexhaustible source of faithfulness to the Gospel, because in this Sacrament, the heart of ecclesial life, we achieve intimate identification and total conformity with Christ, to whom consecrated men and women are called."

  John Paul II concludes by calling on the Virgin Mary, "Eucharistic woman" to "help those called to a special intimacy with Christ to be assiduous frequenters of the Mass and to obtain for them the gift of ready obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity. May she make them saintly disciples of the Eucharistic Christ."
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 2, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Luiz Vicente Bernetti O.A.D., auxiliary of Palmas-Francisco Beltrao, Brazil, as bishop of Apucarana (area 8,655, population 465,000, Catholics 398,800, priests 66, permanent deacons 67, religious 95), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Domingos Gabriel Wisniewski C.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Leonardo Ulrich Steiner O.F.M., vice-pastor of the "Bom Jesus" parish in the archdiocese of Curitiba, Brazil, as bishop prelate of the territorial prelature of Sao Felix (area 150,000, population 150,000, Catholics 129,000, priests 10, permanent deacons 2, religious 33), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Forquilhinha, Brazil, in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1978. He succeeds Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga Pla C.M.F., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Valentin Pozaic S.J., director of the bio-ethical institute of Zagreb, Croatia, as auxiliary bishop of Zagreb (area 13,495, population 1,645,123, Catholics 1,456,214, priests 699, religious 1,689). The bishop-elect was born in Marija Bistrica, Croatia, in 1945 and ordained a priest in 1973.

 - Appointed as members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinals Christian Wiyghan Tumi, archbishop of Douala, Cameroon, Salvatore De Giorgi, archbishop of Palermo, Italy, Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, Italy, Tarcisio Bertone, archbishop of Genova, Italy, Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia, Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Esztergom Budapest, Hungary, Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts; Archbishops Michel Marie Bernard Calvet S.M. of Noumea, New Caledonia-Oceania, Paulino Lukudu Loro M.C.C.I. of Juba, Sudan, Jean Marie Untaani Compaore of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Thomas Menamparampil S.D.B. of Guwahati, India; Archbishop-bishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale O.M.I. of Johannesburg South Africa; Bishops Tarcisius Ngalalekumtwa of Iringa, Tanzania, Joseph Zen Ze kiun S.D.B. of Hong Kong, Antoni Dziemianko, auxiliary of Minsk Mohilev, Belarus, and Robert Le Gall O.S.B. of Mende, France.
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POPE, HOSPITALIZED WITH BREATHING DIFFICULTIES, IS STABLE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 2, 2005 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls released the following statement this morning to journalists with regards to the current state of health of the Holy Father John Paul II:

  "During the night, respiratory assistance therapy was continued which allowed for a stabilization of the clinical picture. Cardio-respiratory and metabolic parameters are  currently within normal range.

  "Thus the diagnosis of an acute laryngeal tracheitis with episodes of laryngeal-spasms, which I communicated last evening, is confirmed.

 "During the night the Holy Father rested for several hours.

  "During his stay the Holy Father's condition has been monitored by Prof. Rodolfo Proietti, the director of the emergency department."

  In remarks made to journalists this morning at Gemelli Polyclinic, Navarro-Valls noted that Pope John Paul, after resting fairly well during the night, celebrated Mass from his hospital bed at 10:15 this morning with his secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz and even had a light breakfast "and some coffee." His fever is "very, very slight." He said that last evening's hurried admission to the hospital was "a precautionary measure" given that the 84-year old Pope had difficulty breathing. He told the press that John Paul II was transported to Gemelli by Vatican ambulance at approximately 10:50 p.m.

  Navarro-Valls, who is also a medical doctor, denied reports that the Pope had lost consciousness, had a CAT scan, or underwent a tracheotomy.

  The content of this morning's statement to the press, said the papal spokesman, was coordinated with the Pope's personal physician, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti. He added that  no further medical bulletins are expected today.

  Navarro-Valls left the hospital in late morning, about an hour after the Pope's physician had arrived. The spokesman said "I am going home, the situation is calm. There is no reason for alarm." He added that "a sign that the Holy Father's situation is not especially worrisome is that his personal doctor arrived" only in mid-morning.

  Last evening Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls, in a declaration to journalists, had stated: "The flu that the Holy Father has been suffering for three days was complicated this evening by an acute laryngeal tracheitis and laryngeal-spasms. For this reason it was decided to urgently admit him to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic at 10:50 p.m. this evening."

  Navarro-Valls added: "The Pope is in the room reserved for him on the 10th floor of Gemelli hospital. He has not been admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital."

  This is the ninth time the Holy Father has been admitted to a hospital during his pontificate: Two of those occasions - July 1993 and August 1996 - were only for a few hours to undergo a CAT scan.

  Previous times in hospital:

  1981: May 13, admitted to Gemelli Hospital after being shot in St. Peter's Square, undergoes a six-hour operation.
  1981: June 20, Pope is readmitted to Gemelli and undergoes a second surgery on August 5.
  1992: July 15, surgery for benign tumor in colon.
  1993: July 2, undergoes CAT scan as a follow-up to 1992 surgery; in Gemelli for several hours in the evening.
  1993: November 11, in Gemelli polyclinic following fracture of his right shoulder.
  1994: April 29, admitted to Gemelli following a fall the previous evening during which he broke his femur.
  1996: August 14, at Regina Apostolorum Clinic in Albano, undergoes a CAT scan.
  1996: October 8, undergoes an appendectomy at Gemelli Hospital.
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