US embassy cable - 05VATICAN461

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE LEVIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, VT 
SUBJECT: WEAKENED POPE MISSES EASTER SERVICES 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, POL, Vatican, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  For the first time since his 1978 election to the 
papacy, Pope John Paul II was unable to participate in the 
Vatican's Holy Week and Easter celebrations, suggesting that his 
condition continues to deteriorate following his February 
surgery.  Despite a series of indications that the Pope had 
intended to participate in the Easter Sunday ceremony and 
potentially in the Good Friday stations of the cross ceremony at 
the Colosseum, his involvement was limited to a few cameo 
appearances from the window of his quarters and an appearance 
via video-link showing only his back.  Rumors about the Pope's 
health, including a brief media burst reporting that he was 
dead, continue to swirl around Rome.  Although the actual 
situation is not so dire, the Easter services left little doubt 
that the Pope has not convalesced well, and that complications 
from his surgery are leaving him weaker and at greater risk of 
more serious problems.  Foreign Minister Lajolo told the Charge 
March 29 that the Pope's difficulties stem primarily from his 
inability to eat regularly, which has left him physically weaker 
and less able to cope with his other health limitations.  Given 
this situation, the Pope will likely never be able to resume the 
level of activity that he had enjoyed before his 2005 
hospitalizations, and it is likely that he will suffer 
continuing health crises in the weeks and months ahead.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Pope Sits Out Easter 
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2.  (SBU)  For the first time since his 1978 election to the 
papacy, Pope John Paul II was unable to participate in the 
Vatican's Holy Week and Easter celebrations, his involvement 
limited to a few cameo appearances from the window of his 
quarters and an appearance via video-link.  In the lead-up to 
Easter, the Vatican reported that the Pope was conserving his 
energy in the hopes of imparting at least a portion of the 
traditional Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) message 
on Easter Sunday.  Some Vatican reports suggested he might be on 
track to do so, noting his continued throat and speaking 
exercises to regain his voice following his February 24 
tracheotomy.  On March 20 (Palm Sunday) and March 23, the Pope 
appeared at his window to bless and wave to the crowd in St. 
Peter's Square below.  On both occasions he looked extremely 
weak and failed to speak (he has not spoken in public since 
March 13, a few hours before being released from Rome's Gemelli 
hospital).  Still, his mere appearance at the window temporarily 
put to rest reports of an even more serious condition. 
 
3.  (SBU) Although the Vatican had announced the roster of papal 
stand-ins for Holy Week services some time ago, officials were 
clearly hoping the Pope would take part in some way.  They 
installed a video-link in his quarters, and arranged for him to 
deliver at least part of the Urbi et Orbi message from his 
window.  On March 25 (Good Friday), the Vatican made use of the 
video option, cutting several times to a shot of the Pope in his 
chapel during the traditional "Way of the Cross" observances in 
the Colosseum.  Television viewers at home and those watching a 
video screen on site saw only John Paul's back and part of his 
left side - never his face -- as he sat in silent contemplation. 
 Commentators remarked on the odd choice of camera angle, some 
questioning if the Vatican had been concealing medical equipment 
assisting the Pope.  Vatican officials insisted that the angle 
was in keeping with the idea that the Pope was not at the center 
of the event; he was an observer like the rest of the 
congregation.  Presiding Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's 
vicar for Rome, read a statement from the Pope in which he said 
he was "close to all those who~are being tried with suffering." 
The Pope's message said he was offering his "sufferings so that 
God's plan [would] be realized and his word spread among 
peoples." 
 
4.  (U) As Easter Sunday mass concluded before a 
larger-than-usual throng in St. Peter's Square with television 
coverage from some 80 countries, the crowd turned en masse 
expectantly towards the papal apartments as the curtains were 
pulled aside in the Pope's room.  Cheers rose as the Pope 
appeared in the window, and with paper in hand and a microphone 
ready, it seemed as if he would speak.  But the Pontiff tried 
unsuccessfully several times to make himself heard, managing 
only a coughing noise.  After a few moments, he waved and 
gestured to the crowd, blessing onlookers several times with his 
 
right hand.  There were cheers from below, but also palpable 
sadness among many pilgrims who had come to Rome to see what 
they believed would be their last glimpse of the Pope.  He 
remained at his open window for some fifteen minutes before he 
withdrew. 
 
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Rumors of the Pope's Demise Unfounded 
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5. (C)  The Pope's condition remains a major focus of Italian 
and international media.  The week before Easter, rumors had 
swirled in Rome that the Pope had taken a turn for the worse. 
Some claimed he had been rushed back to the hospital, and 
networks were calling the Embassy seeking to verify reports that 
the Pope had, in fact, passed away.  Monsignor Gabriele Caccia, 
the Vatican's third-ranking official in the Secretariat of 
State's First Section (the equivalent of the Prime Minister's 
cabinet), told the Charge on one such occasion that the Pope was 
safe and sound in bed, and noted that Vatican officials had been 
getting occasional flurries of such calls in recent months. 
Although these report proved unfounded, it is clear that the 
Pope's health remains unstable: on March 25 a contact in the 
Swiss Guard who had been on duty outside the papal apartments 
the night before told Embassy staff that the Pontiff had been up 
all night with his doctors. 
 
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Comment 
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6.  (C)  In the wake of the Easter services, the mood around the 
Vatican was one of sadness and resignation.  With the Pope 
unable to rally for even a brief appearance on the most 
important day in the Christian calendar, it was undeniable that 
he had reached a new low in his state of health.  American 
Archbishop John Foley, a frequent television commentator and 
President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, 
told us the day's events had brought him to tears.  The DCM at 
the Polish Embassy told us there was common acknowledgement in 
Polish circles close to the Pope that the situation was now 
"very serious."  He noted that the Polish journalists with whom 
he had spoken after Sunday's mass seemed to have abandoned their 
usual frenzied search for fodder for sensationalistic stories on 
the Pope's health.  Rather, they seemed "quiet, calm," and 
resigned to this further Papal decline. 
 
7.  (C)  Post sees little cause for optimism on the Pope's 
health.  All senior officials have abandoned their traditional 
optimism regarding the Pope's status, and now shake their heads 
and acknowledge that the Pope is suffering.  Foreign Minister 
Lajolo's explanation to the Charge that the Pope is experiencing 
difficulties eating following his tracheotomy, which in turn 
leaves him weaker and more vulnerable, seems a credible 
explanation for the decline in the Pope's physical appearance in 
recent weeks.  While he may be able to attain a temporary level 
of stability, he will almost certainly never resume the level of 
activity that he had enjoyed before his 2005 hospitalizations, 
and the Holy See will have to adjust increasingly to a "virtual 
Pope" seen only via video.  The Pope has of course surprised 
many with his resilience, but there are few signs of optimism 
that His Holiness can overcome his mounting physical 
limitations. 
 
Hardt 
 
 
HARDT 
 
 
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