Popes

The Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was freed from prison today after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist. Dozens of police officers stood guard as Mehmet Ali Agca left Kartal prison. John Paul personally forgave him 2 1/2 years after the attack.

Pope John Paul II is "in a bad way" and the faithful should pray for him, one of his closest advisors said in published remarks. But the Vatican said the pope was sticking to his schedule, and German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's remarks did not indicate a recent worsening of his health. The pontiff is 83 and suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Turkey's justice minister ordered a review of the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot Pope John Paul II nearly 25 years ago. Agca, now 48, served nearly 20 years in prison in Italy, then was extradited to Turkey, where he was serving time for the murder of a Turkish journalist. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ordered a review to see whether any errors were committed in the release.

Speaking one day after his 83rd birthday, Pope John Paul II said Monday that he is increasingly aware that he is nearing death and that he entrusts himself to divine mercy. "Yesterday afternoon I finished my 83rd year of life and started my 84th," John Paul told a crowd of Polish pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. "I am increasingly aware that the day is drawing near when I will have to present myself to God to account to him for my life," he said, speaking in Polish.

Pope Benedict XVI marked his 80th birthday by lunching with cardinals and listening to music by one of his favorite composers, Mozart, in a relatively low-key celebration. Benedict spent the morning meeting with well-wishers from his native Germany, including the governors of Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. Gifts poured in, including 80 bottles of Bavarian beer and a giant teddy bear, which the pontiff donated to a local children's hospital.

The Holy Father won't be doing talk shows or signings, thanks, but nearly anybody else here would be pleased to come: The Vatican is wheeling out red-robed battalions to ballyhoo publication today of a book of personal reflections by Pope John Paul II. "A fascinating, satisfying, moving book," New York Cardinal John J. O'Connor told reporters at a special pre-publication briefing here. "It ought to be a bestseller," said Archbishop William H.

Progressives Cardinals more open to change, tolerant of internal dissent and willing to give bishops greater autonomy. Godfried Danneels, 67, archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium. After heart surgery in 1997, the former liturgy professor is back as a forceful advocate of moderation. He urges a more flexible approach to divorced, remarried Roman Catholics. * Carlo Maria Martini, 74, archbishop of Milan, Italy.

The cause of sainthood for Pope John XXIII has cleared a major hurdle with certification by a panel of doctors that his intercession miraculously cured a dying nun, the Vatican has announced. The Rev. Luca de Rosa, a Franciscan priest who is postulator, or advocate, of John XXIII's cause, said the medical consultants to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted unanimously that the nun's recovery was "inexplicable at the scientific level."

A gaunt-looking Pope John Paul II appeared in a live video to hundreds of young people who filled a Rome basilica to show their support and express hope that the ailing pontiff would travel to a World Youth Day event in Germany this summer. In an appearance that lasted less than a minute, the 84-year-old pope made the sign of the cross to the crowd, which erupted into cheers. At one point, he covered his eyes with a hand, and the live video signal cut out.

Pope John Paul II will continue his travels in 2003, despite failing health, and will reach the milestone of 100 trips outside Italy. But his visits will be relatively brief and only to European countries, the Vatican said this week. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the 82-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff is scheduled to visit Spain on May 3-4, Croatia on June 5-8, Bosnia on June 22, and Slovakia on Sept. 11-14.