Imminent death of Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul's struggle for life appears to have reached the end. These are the final moments of the life of the Head of the Catholic Church who has a special place in the hearts and minds of the Maltese people. Although the Vatican is still officially denying some Italian media reports which are stating that the Pontiff is effectively dead, another Vatican represenative is now stating that tonight "Christ has opened his gates for the Pope".

Pope John Paul Breaking News Blog

This is how Pope John Paul's May 2001 visit to Malta was reported by Brian Murphy for the Associated Press - text not freely available online:

Pope Praises Malta on Visit
VALLETTA, Malta (AP) -- Returning to one of the bastions of his church, Pope John Paul II began the final leg of a historic pilgrimage Tuesday with words of praise for Malta's Christian devotion that stretches back to converts of the Apostle Paul.``You have a spiritual and moral heritage,'' the pope said after arriving in the Mediterranean island nation, which he first visited 11 years ago. The stop comes near the end of a six-day trip that included landmark gestures of reconciliation in Greece and Syria. The voyage also appeared to take a physical toll on the 80-year-old pontiff, who at times appeared near exhaustion. He temporarily discarded his cane and carefully descended from the Syrian Airlines plane that carried him from Damascus. A strong breeze ruffled his hair and white vestments. It then carried away a portion of the red carpet rolled out for the pope.

The Maltese president, Guido de Marco, steadied the pope as he wavered in the gusts. The pope is also being buffeted by events from earlier stages of the pilgrimage to retrace the steps of Paul. Some media commentators and others have assailed the pontiff for not clearly condemning the comments of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who likened Israelis to betrayers of Jesus. The Vatican said only that the pope and the Roman Catholic Church have often denounced anti-Semitism. In Moscow, meanwhile, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have not fully welcomed the pope's apology in Athens for Catholic misdeeds against Orthodox -- raising the possibly of serious divisions within Eastern Orthodox churches over whether to heal the nearly 1,000-year estrangement with the Vatican.

The pope clearly took comfort in the uncomplicated and adoring setting in Malta, where nearly 98 percent of its 392,000 people are baptized Roman Catholic and divorce and abortion are illegal. Identity with the faith runs deep -- back to Paul and the centuries under the protection of the Order of St. John, or the Knights of Malta, which turned back a siege by Muslim Ottoman forces in 1565.``Our faith is our country's greatest asset,'' said Malta's president.According to the Bible, Paul spent three months preaching in Malta after being shipwrecked in A.D. 60 while being taken to Rome for trial. One of Paul's converts, Publius, was later appointed bishop of Malta.``Just as the Maltese welcomed Paul the Apostle shipwrecked on this island, so do we ... welcome you on this, the last lap of your journey,'' de Marco told the pope. Tens of thousands of people lined the route of the papal entourage.

The pope smiled and waved from behind the bulletproof glass that encloses his popemobile. A billboard proclaimed ``Merhba Lill-Papa,'' or ``Welcome Pope'' in Maltese, near a vast plaza where John Paul will celebrate Mass on Wednesday for the beatification of a local priest, the Rev. George Preca. Beatification is the last formal step before possible sainthood. Preca, who died in 1962, founded the Society of Christian Doctrine, a religious society that reached out to workers and their families. Its members -- lay men and women -- pledge themselves to celibacy, missionary work and private prayer. The society has about 1,100 active members and operates schools in Malta and six other countries.

The pope has strongly encouraged the participation of lay followers in church-backed groups such as Opus Dei, whose members include many lay Catholics. Before becoming pope, John Paul served from 1967-76 on the Vatican's Council for the Laity. Also scheduled for beatification by John Paul are two 19th-century religious figures: Maria Adeodata Pisani, a cloistered nun, and Nazju Falzon, who founded a Christian association that attracted many British military members in the former colony.

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