Reply #41: Vatican source: Pope given last rites [View All]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Ailing pontiff suffers from high fever with urinary tract infection

Thursday, March 31, 2005 Posted: 4:56 PM EST (2156 GMT)


The pope tried to speak Wednesday, but his words were not clear.


VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church late Thursday night as his health deteriorated, a Vatican source has told CNN.

The sacrament does not necessarily mean that the pope is dying. Last rites -- also known as the sacrament of anointing the sick -- are commonly given to people who are seriously ill as well. The pope received the sacrament after he was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.

The pope is suffering from a high fever caused by a urinary tract infection, the Vatican confirmed earlier Thursday -- one day after revealing he had been put on a nasal feeding tube for nutrition.

The pope is taking antibiotics, a Vatican spokesman said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/31/pope1/index.html