Pope: no change to Easter schedule

Rome (AsiaNews) - Vatican spokesman, Dr Joaquin Navarro Valls, said that the schedule for Easter celebrations will not be adjusted.  It will up to the Pope himself to decide on how he will take part in the functions.

The following statement on the Pope's health was released today by the Vatican Press Office:  "The health of the Holy Father John Paul II continues to improve and show progress.  As previously stated, the Pope is eating regularly and spends several hours each day in an armchair.  The surgical wound is healing."

Navarro also added that the Pope is keen to go back to the Vatican soon and concluded saying that, "In recent days the Pope has been receiving several of his collaborators with whom he daily follows the activity of the Holy See and the life of the Church."

On Wednesday, in fact, the Pope received Cardinal Joaquin Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne.  "The Pope's voice is stronger than I expected," the Cardinal said after his visit, adding that he was hopeful about seeing the Pope in Cologne next August for World Youth Day.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, met with the Pope on Tuesday at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.  He said he found him to be "fully alert, capable of saying the essential things in his own words", and spoke with him in both Italian and German.

The next medical bulletin will be issued on Monday, March 7.

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