Pope’s health is Oscar concern
Two years ago, Academy Award producers had to make contingency plans for the possibility of major news developments in the country’s newly launched war in Iraq. This year, they are having to cope with the possibility that Pope John Paul II could die.
The 84-year-old pontiff underwent an urgent tracheostomy late Thursday. He was reported breathing on his own Friday but uncertainty about his condition persisted.
Asked about the contingency plans at a news conference outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Friday, Oscar producer Gil Cates declined to get into the specifics.
“We have a lot of plans in place,” Cates said. “I hope the pope is with us for a very, very long time, and God forbid that would happen. Obviously we would discuss what we would do. It’s not appropriate to talk about it now because we all hope it won’t happen.”
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Robert W. Welkos
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