Pope recieves last rites according to yahoo news

[Cannikin]

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul's fragile health took a sharp turn for the worse as he developed a very high fever caused by a urinary infection, the Vatican said.

Italian media said the 84-year-old Pontiff had received the sacrament for the sick and dying, commonly known as the Last Rites. It is given to the very seriously ill but does not necessarily mean death is imminent.


"He's ill, very ill," an unnamed medical source was quoted as saying by Italy's Ansa news agency on Friday.


The Pope, who is struggling to recover from throat surgery, was not taken to hospital despite the gravity of the situation. One media report said he was too frail to be moved.


Doctors stayed at the Pontiff's bedside into the early hours of Friday morning as hundreds of faithful gathered in St Peter's Square to pray for the man who has led the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics for the past 26 years.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=1&u=/nm/20050401/ts_nm/pope_dc_32

[CBHagman]

1. I actually received the same sacrament nearly four years ago.

We used to call this sacrament "extreme unction," which sounds almost as dire as "the last rites." Ever since the 1960s, it's been known as the sacrament of the sick.

It's natural that they would anoint John Paul II during this time of illness.

[Cannikin]

2. Thanks for curing my protestant ignorance!

[Cannikin]

3. His condition is stablizing with antibiotics.

[CBHagman]

4. I hope things will improve.

If it's his time to go, I hope he passes peacefully into the next world. But perhaps the treatments will succeed. Who knows?

The headlines have been just a trifle extreme concerning this. Obviously there's huge concern, due to his numerous infirmities, but he's also proved resilient.