Ailing Pope Cuts Short Greetings

Sick with nausea and fever, Pope John Paul II cut short his traditional Christmas greetings on Monday, telling crowds he was fighting to regain his health.

The Vatican spokesman described the pope as suffering from “a flu or something like that.” He said the pope had a slight fever and an upset stomach. Doctors placed the pontiff under observation and advised several days’ rest.

“I cannot go on. Merry Christmas and God bless,” the pope said shortly after finishing his annual “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) message.

He was on the second of 54 holiday greetings in different languages when he breathed a deep sigh, drooped his head and turned away from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

The crowd paused a moment in stunned silence before breaking out in applause.

About 15 minutes later, the pope returned and said: “Thank you for your patience. You see that even the pope has his weaknesses, but he’s looking to fight back. . . . I thank you all from my heart, and Merry Christmas with all my heart.”

The Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, suggested that the 75-year-old pope’s demanding schedule could have finally caught up with him.

The pope did not get to sleep until 3 o’clock Christmas morning after a long midnight Mass in a steamy St. Peter’s Basilica.

John Paul had appeared fit during recent appearances in the hectic holiday season, sometimes cracking jokes or mingling with children. He was no longer using the cane he needed during his long recovery from hip replacement surgery last year.

But workdays of up to 17 hours and a ceaseless travel schedule clearly take a toll on the pope sometimes. The Roman Catholic leader visited five continents in 1995.

“It’s been a very busy year,” Navarro-Valls said. “I would say his health is rather good. Maybe he is a little bit tired.”

John Paul was scheduled to celebrate Mass today for the feast day of St. Stephen, and it was unclear whether he would cancel. Navarro-Valls said the pope decided not to travel to the papal villa outside Rome and would remain at the Vatican.

The address in St. Peter’s Square was the public’s first glimpse of the pope on Christmas Day this year. He chose not to celebrate Christmas Mass in the basilica for the first time since assuming the papacy in 1978. Cardinal Virgilio Noe, the high priest of the basilica, took his place at the altar, ringed by yellow and red flowers.

Elsewhere in the world, Christmas celebrations were a study in contrasts.

In Beijing, there was standing room only for Christmas Eve midnight Mass at the four main Roman Catholic churches.

Despite past years of official discouragement of religion, the city’s two biggest churches allowed visitors--but only those with tickets, to keep out hordes of curious onlookers.

It was a low-key Christmas in Japan, still recovering from the effects of a lengthy economic downturn. However, about 150 people spent their Christmas Eve in a candlelight sit-in in front of the French Embassy in Tokyo, protesting France’s nuclear tests in the Pacific.

In balmy Sydney, Australia, the annual Christmas Day party, which attracted about 25,000 tourists, backpackers and local residents to Bondi beach, turned violent.

Police in riot gear clashed with hundreds of revelers early today as crowds attacked a bus and cars. Two policemen were slightly hurt, a spokesman said. There were no arrests.

In Muslim Pakistan’s sprawling city of Karachi, special prayers were offered for peace. More than 1,800 people were killed in the strife-torn city this year.

And in South Africa, President Nelson Mandela welcomed hundreds of villagers who set up tents at his Qunu estate for a Christmas celebration.

Christmas days in Mandela’s village childhood offered the only cup of tea he would have all year, he said, which is why he now offers hospitality to as many people as possible.

But South Africa’s Christmas was bloodied by an escalation in violence between rival Zulus returning from city jobs to rural areas for the holiday.

Nearly 1,000 armed men swept through the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province Monday, killing 13 and burning dozens of homes, police said.