POPE JOHN PAUL THE SECOND PASSES

POPE JOHN PAUL THE SECOND
MAY 18, 1920 - APRIL 2, 2005

Pope John Paul the Second, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died Saturday, April 2nd, 2005, at the Vatican after battling serious illness over the past two months. He was 84. The Vatican announced the Pontiff's death via an e-mail Saturday, which read:

"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. ET) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution 'Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion."

After word that the pontiff had taken a turn for the worse on Friday (April 1st), tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square outside his Vatican apartments to hold vigil and pray as they waited for the inevitable news.

John Paul had suffered from worsening Parkinson's disease since the mid-1990s, and had crippling knee and hip ailments. His final health crisis began on February 1st, when he was rushed to the hospital with breathing problems as a complication of the flu. He remained at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic until February 10th, when he returned to the Vatican. However, two weeks later, on February 24th, he returned to the hospital with renewed breathing problems, and doctors decided to perform a tracheotomy, in which a tube was inserted in his windpipe to allow him to breathe easier. That tube remained in even after the pontiff left the hospital on March 13th. Just days ago, on March 30th, amid reports that he wasn't responding well to his medications, a feeding tube was inserted into the pope's nose, since his Parkinson's was causing him problems swallowing. One day later, on March 31st, the Vatican said the pontiff made a sudden turn for the worse. He developed a high fever caused by a urinary tract infection, and after initially stabilizing, his condition deteriorated and septic shock and heart failure set in. John Paul held on, deciding himself not to go to the hospital for treatment, until dying Friday.



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