The Pope's Demise?

John L. Allen Jr., the Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter, offered a good perspective on stories about the pope’s possible demise.

In his Oct. 3 The Word from Rome Column, Allen writes:

"I received scores of panicked phone calls from editors and special project planners wanting to know if the curtain was about to go up on what TV contracts euphemistically refer to as the 'papal death event.'

"My response? Calm down.

"One of these times, of course, the alarmists will be right. Given the pope’s age, the burdens of office, and the cumulative toll of his Parkinson’s disease and other ailments, he could take a dramatic turn for the worse at any moment. I spoke to a member of the pope’s inner circle on Oct. 1, and for the first time in our conversations he allowed that John Paul’s overall fragility — his immobility, his breathing, his motor functions — has him worried. The pope’s heavy schedule in October, with at least one major public event almost every day, is also a source of concern.

"Yet anyone who has followed John Paul knows that rumors of his demise have been around for 20 years. Even if we are in a new phase, in which the pope becomes increasingly more of a spectator to his own pontificate, that phase could endure for a long time. Between now and the inevitable, there will be a series of false alarms, and while it’s wise to be prepared, it’s also a good idea not to get terribly carried away with every rumor that floats along."