Pope attends audience but skips address under doctor's orders

Published: 2004-04-14

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following his doctor's orders, Pope John Paul II skipped giving his address at his first general audience during the Easter season. Although it is not unusual for someone to read for the pope, it was the first time the Vatican announced to reporters beforehand that the pope would not be giving his speech. Though Vatican officials read aloud his April 14 catechesis, the pope did offer his greetings in eight languages to the tens of thousands of pilgrims who gathered for the audience in St. Peter's Square. The pope looked alert and his voice was strong, though it wavered at times. At the end of the audience, the pope led the recitation of the "Regina Coeli" prayer and met with a long line of pilgrims and posed for group pictures for well over an hour. He entered and left the square -- which was still carpeted with flowers from Easter Sunday -- in his open-air popemobile to wave to the crowds.

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