British church leaders say visit to pope's hospital was important

Published: 2005-03-01

ROME (CNS) -- Although they were unable to see Pope John Paul II because he was concelebrating Mass, two officials of the English and Welsh bishops' conference said they felt it was important to make a trip to Rome's Gemelli hospital. "It was a gesture, but one that was very significant for me," Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster, England, told reporters March 1. The cardinal, who is conference president, said he and the conference vice president, Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool, England, left a written message expressing the prayers and best wishes of Catholics and others in England and Wales. Meeting reporters later, the cardinal and the archbishop said it would be up to Pope John Paul to decide whether he should resign, but neither prelate thought the pope would. "There is a sense, you know, in Catholic spirituality that you leave things up to the Lord," the cardinal said. "In health or in sickness, he is at the service of the Lord, and he will continue in that."

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .