Pope On The Mend

Pope John Paul II is breathing on his own and is not suffering from pneumonia, the Vatican said Friday, a day after he was rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery to ease another breathing crisis.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the frail 84-year-old pontiff spent a restful night at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic hospital, where he was taken by ambulance on Thursday after suffering his second bout of breathing trouble in less than a month.

John Paul had no signs of a lung infection such as pneumonia, Navarro-Valls told reporters. He said the tracheotomy "was not an emergency procedure."

"It was a question of assuring adequate breathing of the patient," he said.

"He's breathing better. He (the pope) has a significant feeling of relief," the papal spokesman said.

A tracheotomy is a simple incision into the windpipe that allows a breathing tube to be placed in the throat so that air can get directly into the lungs,

"It's a standard procedure," said Senay. "From what we've read or heard as far as what happened with the pope, it sounds pretty routine."

John Paul had no fever, said papal spokesman Navarro-Valls. He added that the pope's post-operative condition was progressing normally.

"The Holy Father spent a night of tranquil rest," he said. "This morning, he ate breakfast with a good appetite. He's breathing on his own and cardio-circulatory conditions remain good."

"Upon the advice of his doctors, the pope must not speak for several days, so as to favor the recovery of the functions of the larynx," Navarro-Valls said.

Navarro-Valls said the pope's breakfast included coffee with milk, 10 biscuits and yogurt. "He ate everything," the spokesman said.

The pope wrote a note Thursday night to his aides saying, "What did they do to me?" Navarro-Valls said, describing it as a joking message.

"I am always totus tuus," Navarro-Valls quoted the pope as writing. Totus tuus is John Paul's Latin motto translated by his spokesman as meaning, "I am completely in your hands."

He said the Vatican did not expect to issue another medical bulletin until Monday and that it will decide tomorrow about what the pope will do for his Sunday noon blessing.

Earlier, the Vatican pointedly said John Paul was spending the night in his hospital room, implying he hasn't required intensive care,

The tracheotomy will likely have serious consequences for the pope's abilities to carry on his duties. The operation would prevent him from being able to speak for an extended period and probably require a long hospital stay.

Vatican officials said on condition of anonymity that the pope was stricken with breathing problems similar to those that sent him to Gemelli on Feb. 1, and Italian news reports said the latest respiratory crisis was even more severe than the first one.

An outside medical expert said the fact the pope had been hooked up to a respirator was an ominous sign.

"The fact that he is on a respirator is not good. The fact that he was readmitted so quickly is not good. All this suggests there's a serious problem," said Dr. Michael Kaplitt, a Parkinson's disease expert at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The frail pontiff, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, had greeted pilgrims twice at the window of his studio at St. Peter's Square since his release from Gemelli on Feb. 10, and on Wednesday he made his longest public appearance since falling ill more than three weeks ago.

But CBS' Roth says pilgrims who came to see the pope in person could clearly hear his labored breathing. Soon after this, sources say, the pope's doctor was raising new concerns about John Paul's health. With little other information being released, Roth reports, the picture emerges of an 84-year-old man who is seriously ill, but in stable condition.

"We are so scared because he has been sick in the past," said Vanessa Animo Bono, 32, a Roman Catholic being treated at Gemelli. Thursday's hospitalization was the pope's eighth since his election in 1978.

The latest hospitalization was certain to further fuel speculation about whether he could continue as pope, and what would happen if he were incapacitated.

In the clearest sign that the Vatican may be taking the eventuality of papal resignation seriously, Vatican No. 2 Cardinal Angelo Sodano declined to rule out the possibility during John Paul's first stay in the hospital this month, saying it was up to the pope's conscience.

President Bush, flying home from a European trip, said, "the Holy Father is in our thoughts and prayers and we wish him a speedy recovery and return to the service of his church and of all humanity."

In the pope's hometown of Wadowice, southern Poland, worshippers offered prayers at an afternoon Mass in St. Mary's church, where the young Karol Wojtyla was baptized.

"His suffering really moves me," said Zdzislaw Szczur, 54, the head of the Wadowice branch of Solidarity, the trade union best known abroad for its struggle in the 1980s to bring down communism. "It's all God's providence now."