Pope Rushed to Hospital
Pope rushed to hospital
AP
ROME -- Pope John Paul was rushed to hospital urgently last night after he suffered inflammation of the throat and had difficulty breathing, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the decision to take the 84-year-old pontiff to hospital was "mainly a precaution." He pointed out the Pope was not in intensive care but in the same 10th-floor suite of rooms where he has been during several previous stays.
He said the Pope has the flu and acute laryngeal tracheitis, acknowledging the pontiff had a "certain difficulty in breathing." The spokesman, who has a medical degree, denied Italian news reports the Pope had a CAT scan at the hospital.
Navarro-Valls said more tests will be done today.
"The flu which the Holy Father was suffering for three days this evening became complicated by an acute laryngeal tracheitis and larynx spasm crisis," a Vatican statement said yesterday.
"For this reason, urgent admission to Gemelli Polyclinic ... was decided."
Tracheitis, an inflammation of the trachea, requires hospital treatment and usually a breathing tube to keep the airway clear. The spasms are likely a complication from the respiratory illness he's had.
It's possible his Parkinson's disease has made his condition more serious and his breathing more laboured.
A Vatican official said on condition of anonymity the pontiff, who has had the flu since Sunday, had apparently suffered a "breathing crisis."
A close member of the Pope's staff, U.S. Archbishop James Harvey, said the Pope had congestion and a slight fever during the day.
A U.S. State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said the Pope would be held overnight for observation but there was no indication he was gravely ill.
Cars with Vatican licence plates were seen speeding toward the Roman Catholic hospital, where the Pope had been taken.
It was the same Rome teaching hospital he was taken to when he was shot in the abdomen in 1981 and at which he has had several operations.
The frail pontiff's Parkinson's disease makes his speech difficult. He also has chronic hip and knee problems.
He was last seen in public Sunday, when he made his regular noontime appearance at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square and released a dove in a sign of peace. He appeared remarkably lively but his words were barely audible.
Until the Pope had been taken to the hospital, the Vatican had been issuing reassuring news about his condition.
AP
ROME -- Pope John Paul was rushed to hospital urgently last night after he suffered inflammation of the throat and had difficulty breathing, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the decision to take the 84-year-old pontiff to hospital was "mainly a precaution." He pointed out the Pope was not in intensive care but in the same 10th-floor suite of rooms where he has been during several previous stays.
He said the Pope has the flu and acute laryngeal tracheitis, acknowledging the pontiff had a "certain difficulty in breathing." The spokesman, who has a medical degree, denied Italian news reports the Pope had a CAT scan at the hospital.
Navarro-Valls said more tests will be done today.
"The flu which the Holy Father was suffering for three days this evening became complicated by an acute laryngeal tracheitis and larynx spasm crisis," a Vatican statement said yesterday.
"For this reason, urgent admission to Gemelli Polyclinic ... was decided."
Tracheitis, an inflammation of the trachea, requires hospital treatment and usually a breathing tube to keep the airway clear. The spasms are likely a complication from the respiratory illness he's had.
It's possible his Parkinson's disease has made his condition more serious and his breathing more laboured.
A Vatican official said on condition of anonymity the pontiff, who has had the flu since Sunday, had apparently suffered a "breathing crisis."
A close member of the Pope's staff, U.S. Archbishop James Harvey, said the Pope had congestion and a slight fever during the day.
A U.S. State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said the Pope would be held overnight for observation but there was no indication he was gravely ill.
Cars with Vatican licence plates were seen speeding toward the Roman Catholic hospital, where the Pope had been taken.
It was the same Rome teaching hospital he was taken to when he was shot in the abdomen in 1981 and at which he has had several operations.
The frail pontiff's Parkinson's disease makes his speech difficult. He also has chronic hip and knee problems.
He was last seen in public Sunday, when he made his regular noontime appearance at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square and released a dove in a sign of peace. He appeared remarkably lively but his words were barely audible.
Until the Pope had been taken to the hospital, the Vatican had been issuing reassuring news about his condition.
For those of us not religious out there. Sorry if I stepped on peoples toes. 
Comment