Santiago, Chile, Feb 8, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Bishop Alejandro Goic of Rancagua, Chile, and president of the country’s Bishops Conference said this week that, “because of his nature, and despite the health problems he faces, Pope John Paul II will finish his pontificate.”
“Only the Pope can decide in conscience if he should retire,” the bishop said. “Knowing the nature of the Pope, I believe he will continue to the end, until God calls him. That is my impression,” he stated.
Bishop Goic acknowledged that John Paul II “is the supreme authority of the Church and if he, in conscience, judges his health to be so limiting that he cannot continue to govern the Church, it would be a very personal decision, as is pointed out in Canon Law.”
Bishop Goic underscored that despite his deteriorating health, the Pope’s mind and intellectual capacity remain totally lucid.