In churches, in his Polish hometown and in St. Peter's Square, faithful are with him

10:12 PM MST on Friday, April 1, 2005

By TOD ROBBERSON / The Dallas Morning News

VATICAN CITY – As Pope John Paul II clung to life Friday evening, tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray, hold vigil and perhaps be among the first to hear the announcement of his death.

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An Italian nun prays in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, joined by thousands of pilgrims awaiting word on Pope John Paul II.

Here and around the world, millions of Roman Catholics waited anxiously for each new development on the pope's condition. Senior members of the clergy described what they presumed to be the pope's final hours as a time of sadness mixed with appreciative reflection over the accomplishments of a 26-year papacy.

At St. Peter's Square, pilgrims took much the same view.

"It's not a sad time for me," said Silvia Toso, 30, a biologist in Rome. "I'm here to pray for him to avoid any more suffering, that he can see God and the light. ... But I'm not waiting for him to die."

A Vatican spokesman told reporters late Friday that the Pope's condition was "compromised" by multiple infections, kidney failure, shallow breathing, low blood pressure and other forms of cardiovascular failure.

It was clear from the dramatic change in tone of a long succession of announcements that the Vatican was preparing the world for the end. The Vatican denied that the pope was in a coma but described his condition alternately as "grave" and "very serious."

"The pope is still lucid, fully conscious and extraordinarily serene," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters earlier in the day Friday. Others confirmed that the pope seemed alert and recognized visitors to his room.

The pope's vicar general for Vatican City, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, told worshippers at an evening Mass that it appeared the pontiff was entering his final hours. "This evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope," he said.

Dr. Navarro-Valls said John Paul awakened at one point during the day and was advised "of the gravity of his condition."

John Paul's health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.

Septic shock involves bacteria in the blood and a consequent over-relaxing of the blood vessels, which are unable to sustain pressure. That loss of blood pressure is catastrophic, making the heart work hard to compensate for the collapse.

The pope "is on the verge of death," Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican's health care office, told the Mexican television network Televisa. "I talked to the doctors, and they told me there is no more hope."

Nevertheless, the pope was described as "extraordinarily serene" and spent the day participating in prayer recitations and making the sign of the cross with his hand, according to a Vatican statement. He also approved the appointment of 17 bishops and archbishops and accepted the resignations of six others.

He specifically chose to remain in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square rather than spend his final hours in a hospital.

He also requested the reading of a Bible passage recounting the story of Christ's Crucifixion and burial.

Outside in the square, tourists mingled with pilgrims, lighting candles, chanting, holding hands and singing songs.

Police cordoned off several blocks around St. Peter's Square, blocking traffic in anticipation of the growing throngs of pilgrims in the days to come.

"For me, it's extremely moving being here at a time like this," said Kathleen Fenner, a Catholic real estate agent from Irvine, Calif., who was visiting Rome with her husband and son. "It's moving to be here, seeing so many people praying and being so respectful of our church."

Although she described the vigil as a time of sadness, Ms. Fenner said the pope's eventual passing would bring feelings of relief as well, considering his steadily declining health, Parkinson's disease and long bouts with illness that led to his hospitalization and throat surgery last month.

"He's done so much to continue in a position of such importance, in the middle of such pain and disease or illness. I'm just amazed he was willing to continue his work until his leader tells him it's time to rest," Ms. Fenner said.

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A woman kneels in prayer in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican April 1, 2005.

Her 19-year-old son, Rich Fenner, said the pope "has come a long way in opening up some of the doctrine of the church. He's made himself a worldwide leader, the way he's traveled and all the languages he spoke."

He said the eventual election of a new pope will create opportunities for the Catholic Church "to open its doctrine further, especially regarding the use of condoms, which is important for saving lives."

Elsewhere, Catholics offered prayers at special Masses called in reaction to the Vatican's signals that the pope was near death.

"Do not feel shame at showing your emotion and at shedding tears," the archbishop of Krakow, Franciszek Macharski, told worshippers in the pope's homeland of Poland.

In John Paul's hometown of Wadowice, in southern Poland, schools let out early so children could pray for the pontiff, the Associated Press reported.

"I want him to hold on, but it is all in God's hands now," said 64-year-old Elzbieta Galuszko at the church where the pope was baptized in Wadowice. "We can only pray for him so he can pull through these difficult moments."