Will pope resign? It's up to him

ROME — From inmates in prisons he has visited to diplomats from one of the few countries he hasn't, get-well messages and gifts have been pouring in for Pope John Paul II, who the Vatican said Monday will stay longer in the hospital as a precaution.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters that the pope continued to get better a week after his emergency admission to the Gemelli Polyclinic with breathing problems that developed with the flu, but that "his doctors have advised him to stay a few more days."

With the 84-year-old pope's health crisis again stimulating talk about whether the frail pontiff should or would retire, the Holy See's No. 2 official, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, took the unusual step of responding to a reporter's question Monday about whether the pope had thought about resigning.

"Let's leave this hypothesis up to the pope's conscience," said Sodano, an Italian who is Vatican secretary of state.

"If there is a man who loves the church more than anybody else, who is guided by the Holy Spirit, if there is a man who has marvelous wisdom, that's him. We must have great faith in the pope. He knows what to do," Sodano added.

Only a few minutes earlier, Sodano had expressed a wish that John Paul — now in his 27th year as pontiff — would surpass Pius IX's 32 years in office as the longest papacy.

But while he rooted for the pope to continue, Sodano's addressing of a long-taboo subject could indicate there is debate within the Vatican over whether the pope might step down. Popes may resign but cannot be forced to do so.

Good wishes to the pope started flooding in at Gemelli last Wednesday, when pilgrims from John Paul's native Poland brought red and white flowers in the colors of their flag.

Hard to miss was a nearly 6-foot-high arrangement of roses in yellow and white, the official colors of the Vatican, sent last week by the Libyan Embassy. Libya is one of the few nations that the pope hasn't toured in his papal globe-trotting, which has taken him to 104 countries.

Hospital staff quickly dispatched overflow floral arrangements to Rome churches. Flowers from the governments of Libya and Qatar decorated the hospital chapel.

The tributes were testimony to the special regard much of the world holds for the pope, among both Catholics and non-Catholics, as well as to the widespread concern for his health.