LOURDES, France – Pope John Paul II joined other ailing pilgrims Saturday for a weekend of prayer at a cliffside shrine to the Virgin Mary, where Roman Catholics seek hope, inner peace and miraculous cures.
Church bells rang out as the pontiff passed, hunched over behind the tall windows of his “popemobile.” Cheers broke out as he slowly lifted a hand to greet crowds waving the Vatican’s yellow-and-white flag.
At Lourdes’ shrine, the 84-year-old pope was lifted out of his wheeled throne and knelt for a moment on a kneeler, trembling as he prayed before the ivy-covered grotto, where Mary is said to have appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. After a less than a minute he slipped, and aides immediately steadied him and lifted him back into his chair.
Mary holds a special significance for the pontiff. After he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, John Paul said Jesus’ mother had “guided” the bullet’s path to save his life.
Following Lourdes’ custom, the pope sipped a glass of water from the spring that flows underground, believed by the faithful to have curative powers.
“Everything is normal, the pope was only tired,” papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. “We have to get used to seeing him that way.”
Later Saturday, John Paul returned to the grotto and delivered a brief speech, although with some difficulty, saying, “I have reached the goal of my pilgrimage” with the stop.
Pilgrims from around the world poured into Lourdes, a small town nestled in the Pyrenees, for the pontiff’s two-day visit. Up to 300,000 people were expected, 10 times as many as are usually present at this time of year.
Though the pontiff had spoken haltingly in slurred French earlier in the day, his prepared speech at the grotto was read by a French cardinal.
“Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, how I would like to embrace each and every one of you with affection, to tell you how close I am to you and how much I support you,” the cardinal said on behalf of the pope.
Lourdes’ grotto is associated with miraculous cures for the sick. Thousands of people have claimed to have been healed, and the church has recognized 66 claims as official miracles. The Vatican, however, says the pope is not seeking a cure for his Parkinson’s disease and other health problems.
The pope also visited the sanctuary in 1983 after recovering from the 1981 assassination attempt.
Today, the pope is to preside over an outdoor Mass in a field. His trip commemorates the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, the dogma that says Mary was born without original sin.
More than 6 million pilgrims make their way to Lourdes each year. Most are healthy, but the site and its spring water have added meaning for the sick. Pilgrims pour the water into small plastic vials in the shape of the Virgin Mary to take home.
Associated Press
Pope John Paul II prays Sunday in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the grotto of Lourdes in southwestern France, where the Madonna is said to have appeared before a peasant girl in 1858.
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