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Article: Waning of a long pontificate. (Columns).(Pope John Paul II)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- October 18, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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John Paul II marked his 24th anniversary as pope this week, having been elected on Oct. 16, 1978. At age 58, he was relatively young and exceptionally vigorous. He was an avid hiker, mountain climber, skier and swimmer.
The attempt on his life in St. Peter's Square in 1981 was a major setback, but after 77 days in a Rome hospital he recovered surprisingly well and functioned with few visible effects throughout the remainder of the decade and into the early 1990s.
In 1992, however, he had colon surgery for the removal of a tumor said to have been the size of an orange. There were inevitable rumors about cancer. The following year he dislocated his ...