U.S. & World

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― Ailing Pope John Paul II rested up Saturday for Easter Sunday, when he is expected to address Roman Catholics publicly for the first time in two weeks.

The 84-year-old pontiff, recovering from surgery to improve his breathing, has missed nearly all the Easter Week celebrations. Holy Saturday is a quiet day for the church.

The pope made another silent, poignant appearance in a series of televised cameo shots on Good Friday night. The shots showed him with his back to the camera in his private chapel as he watched the procession at the Colosseum. It was the first time in his 26 years as pope that he has missed the ceremony commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus.

Poor health and the rigors of two recent hospitalizations have forced the pope to relinquish practically all of his customary participation in Holy Week, including Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday Masses.

The pope last spoke to the public March 13, when he read short greetings from his Rome hospital room shortly before returning to the Vatican.

In years past, he always presided at the Easter vigil service Saturday night in St. Peter's Basilica. This year he was expected to follow the ceremony on TV as he saves his strength to bless the crowds on Easter Sunday in St. Peter's Square.

Since his discharge, the pontiff has made a few brief appearances in which he has raised his arm to silently bless the faithful, including on Palm Sunday. The silence and brevity have alarmed those who fear the pope is not rebounding from his latest medical setbacks.

John Paul has had Parkinson's disease for years and suffers from knee and hip ailments.

Some have suggested that Vatican might be readying the public for a new stage in the papacy.

"The Vatican hierarchy is experimenting with the possibility — never done before — of achieving a kind of governing (of the Church) by gesture and image," Corriere della Sera's longtime Vatican expert, Luigi Accattoli, wrote Saturday.

Such an approach would be a stark contrast and rapid change for a pope who traveled the world to deliver his message in person, even when health problems made it difficult for him to speak. Just three months ago, John Paul read out Christmas greetings in 62 languages to a delighted crowd.

The thousands who gathered at the Colosseum for the Way of the Cross procession cheered and waved torches when the pontiff appeared on giant video screens set up by Vatican TV. After each of 14 meditations read aloud at the ceremony, the camera showed John Paul sitting in silence, his stooped figure nearly dwarfed by his wheeled, white, stiff-backed armchair.

His face was never shown, and after the last meditation he was seen clutching a tall crucifix in his right hand.

In a message read to the crowd, John Paul said he was spiritually among those at the Colosseum reflecting on Christ's last hours.

"I also offer my suffering, so that God's design is completed and his word walks among the people," he said in the message. "I am near all those who in these moments are tested by suffering. I pray for each of them."

Vatican Radio noted that many in the crowd had tears in their eyes when the pope's image appeared.

"We will miss him but we know he's here, even if not physically," said Cecilia Paolombo, a 20-year-old Italian Girl Scout who was giving out torches to the faithful.

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