Could 72-Year-Old Nigerian Cardinal Be First Black Pope?Story of the Week After the Pope's Latest Health Scare, the Catholic World May Look Towards the Third World and Cardinal Francis Arinze, Reports Allan Laing

The Herald › February 05, 2005

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Summary

IT is another triumph for the indomitable spirit of Pope John Paul II. Roman Catholics around the world feared the worst this week when the 84-year-old pontiff was rushed to hospital in Rome.

What started as a bout of f lu quickly developed into something more serious. For a frail man of his advanced years, his breathing difficulties could well have proved fatal.

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Could 72-Year-Old Nigerian Cardinal Be First Black Pope?Story of the Week After the Pope's Latest Health Scare, the Catholic World May Look Towards the Third World and Cardinal Francis Arinze, Reports Allan Laing

Not for the first time, the Pope has astonished doctors with his remarkable powers of recovery. However, this latest illness serves as a reminder that he will not last forever.

He suffers from Parkinson's disease and is crippled by arthritis. Perhaps sooner rather than later, he will let slip his increasingly tenuous grasp on life.

Then the secret process to find his successor will begin. When that puff of white smoke eventual...

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