Rome, Italy, Feb 28, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, said this week “the word retirement is not part of the Holy Father’s vocabulary” and that therefore he would continue to lead the Church as long as God wills it.
Speaking to the Italian daily “La Repubblica,” the Mexican cardinal said the Pope “will continue ahead as long as God wills it, as he reiterated with the Totus tuus (Totally Yours), which leaves no doubt.”
According to the cardinal, John Paul II will continue leading the Church “because he possesses an incredible strength, a will that it is out of the ordinary and extraordinary lucidity.”
“Beyond his illnesses and his health problems, the Holy Father has the spirit of a twenty year-old man,” he added.