Section B·Page 14
The University Daily Kansan
World
Tuesday, January 18,2000
Pope's health problems don't mean resignation
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Just the mere mention of the "r" word — as in resign — was enough to rally a defense of Pope John Paul II on Jan. 10.
Praise for the 79-year-old pontiff's stamina came pouring in less than 24 hours after Italian media reported that an influential German bishop had called on the pope to step down because of his health.
The ANSA news agency reported Jan. 9 that Bishop Karl Lehmann, head of the German bishops' conference, had called for the pope's resignation, saying the church needs
strong man
strong man.
Lehmann
insisted
later that
he was mis-
interpreted.
"I'm con-
vinced we have
a s t r o g p ope," he
told Italian
state television.
"I was tota-
ly mis-under-
stood in the man.
Pope John Paul II:
Vatican maintains
he is strong enough
to remain pontiff
ner in which my words were reported."
While questions about the pope's future, given his frail health, have long been raised among the rank-and-file faithful, such talk by a bishop breaks long-held Vatican taboos.
For years, John Paul has suffered hand tremors associated with Parkinson's disease. He tires easily and has had difficulty climbing stairs since undergoing hip surgery in 1994.
In an interview broadcast
Jan. 9 on German radio, Lehmann was asked if he thought the pope should resign this year. He replied that if John Paul were to have the feeling that he was simply no longer capable enough to lead the church, then he believed that the pope would have the strength and the courage to say he could no longer fulfill that which needs to be done.
Despite Lehmann's insistence that he in no way meant to suggest the pope should resign, papal backers in Rome rushed to John Paul's defense Jan. 10.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini told *Avenire*, the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference: "The pope shows himself to be fully able, now, as in the past, of carrying out with full personal responsibility his office of universal pastor of the church."
John Paul made no mention of the controversy last week during his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See. His speech, while frequently slurred, was clear during the address.
But in an unusual step, the Holy See's press office rushed out a note calling attention to a remark made by the dean of the diplomats, the envoy from San Marino, Giovanni Galassi.
Commenting on the pope's just-finished heavy schedule inaugurating the Vatican's Holy Year, Galassi praised the strength and courage the pope demonstrated and then wished the pope several more years as the successor of Peter.
Although the general expectation is that popes serve until death, there is precedent for papal resignation.
Last week, Lehmann mentioned the 1294 resignation of Celestine V, but also stressed
POPE JOHN PAUL II
Born 1920, in Wadowice Poland.
Given name Karol Wojtyla.
Elected pope in 1978, first
Elected pope in 1978, non-Italian to hold the position in 450 years.
In 1981, victim of an assassination attempt by Turkish national Mehmet Ali Agca. The shooter's motives still are unclear.
how impressed he was by John Paul's extraordinary presence of mind and high energy in recent weeks.
Ruini said the pope often took on tasks that don't necessarily have to be carried out by him personally, such as presiding in long and challenging celebrations.
John Paul has given no indication he's considering stepping down, although he has made clear a pope must be in full command of his powers to shepherd the Roman Catholic Church.
While recuperating from hip surgery, John Paul joked with his surgeon about church laws permitting him to step down if he became incapacitated.
"Doctor, neither you nor I have any choice. You have to cure me because there is no room for a pope emeritus," papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls quoted John Paul as saying at the time.
The pope has sometimes appeared irritated by the perception that he is physically weak. Returning from a taxing pilgrimage last summer to his native Poland, in which he gashed his head during a fall, John Paul pushed away the arm of his secretary as he tried to steady the pontiff as he descended stairs from an airplane.
French man gets new arms
The Associated Press
Double transplant is first of its nature
LYON, France — A gutsy Frenchman who took up running marathons after being maimed four years ago received two arm transplants in the first operation of its kind, doctors said Friday.
The patient, whose identity was withheld, was in very satisfactory condition after the 17-hour surgery that attached new limbs below both his elbows.
Eighteen top surgeons, urgently assembled from across the world after a donor was found, operated on the 33-year-old man on Thursday, connecting arteries, veins, nerves, tendons and muscles, as well as setting the new bones.
The team was headed by Jean Michel Dubernard, head of transplant surgery at the Edouard-Herriot hospital in Lyon, in southeastern France. Others flown in included Australian Earl Owen, director of the Center for Microsurgery in Sydney, and
"I've just left his room, and at this stage everything's going well," Dubernard said. "It was a long operation. The first thing he asked for afterward was to soothe the pain."
British surgeon Nadey Hakim of Saint Mary's Hospital in London.
Shortly after the surgery, the color of the new limbs was encouraging, the doctor said.
The patient's forearms were severed in 1996 when a handmade model rocket he was trying to launch exploded before takeoff. He was a good candidate for the ground-breaking operation because of his strong personality, Dubernard said.
"We chose him because he is tenacious, motivated and persistent," the doctor told reporters, adding that the patient took up marathon running after losing his forearms.
In September 1998, a team also led by Dubernard and Owen successfully carried out a forearm transplant on Clint Hallam, a 49-year-old New Zealander.
This is the first time doctors have tried to attach two new limbs
"We chose him because he is tenacious, motivated, and persistent."
Jean-Michel Dubernard
Head surgeon
but the patient's body rejected the hand after two weeks.
The French transplant patient contacted Dubernard's team about the possibility of an operation when he heard of Hallam's surgery.
Such surgery involves serious risks. Patients must take anti-rejection medication that suppresses the immune system to keep the body from destroying foreign tissue. This treatment leaves the patient more vulnerable to other diseases.
Even if the patient doesn't reject the donor's limbs, he could face other problems, including the failure of nerves to regenerate sufficiently to transmit sensations such as hot and cold.
The surgeons are planning a similar operation in Italy soon, although no further details were given
Ad campaign features death-row inmates
The Associated Press
ROME — Fashion giant Benetton is joining Italy's offensive against the death penalty with its latest advertising campaign — piercing portraits of American death-row inmates.
The posters, which will hit billboards worldwide at the end of January, feature death-row inmates in prison uniforms staring into the camera and display the words, "Sentenced to Death." The prisoner's name, date of birth, crime and expected method of execution follow.
"How can they do that? How can they do that?" said Freida Froemsdorf, whose 35-year-old son, a Missouri state highway patrolman, was gunned down in 1985 by one of the inmates to be featured by Benetton.
known for socially provocative Benetton ads that seemingly have little to do with fashion, visited prisons across the United States for more than two years to help create the series, called "Looking Death in the Face."
Toscani is now promoting his campaign in the United States, where the number of executions last year was the highest it has been since 1954.
Photographer Oliviero Toscani.
One of the men featured in the ad campaign is Jerome Mallett, who is on death row in Missouri for slaying James M. Fromsdorf.
The trooper had apparently hand-cuffed Mallett after a driver's license check revealed he was wanted by authorities in Dallas for armed robbery and a parole violation. Authorities believe Mallet grabbed the officer's revolver and then fatally shot him.
debate on capital punishment even at the cost of losing American customers.
"Of course, that may happen," the English-language Italy Daily quoted him as saying. "But as a result of the campaign, we may gain new customers. If advertising made everyone happy, it would be an act of hypocrisy."
Toscani said he wanted to foster
Benetton concedes the ads are meant to increase consumer awareness of the label — but they also are intended to raise awareness on social issues, the company says.
In announcing its death-row campaign, Benetton credited itself with tearing down the wall of international indifference.
No one answered the phones at Benetton headquarters Saturday, and it was unclear whether any of the inmates were compensated for participating in the ad campaign.
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