Don't turn pope's hospitalisation into a tragedy: Poland's Walesa

WARSAW, Feb 2 (AFP) - Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa urged the world's Catholics on Wednesday not to over-dramatise Pope John Paul II's hospitalisation, but to "pray for our health and his."
"The pope is made of solid stock," Walesa, who has met the pope on several occasions, said on the private news television channel TVN24.
"Let's not turn the pope's hospitalisation into a tragedy. Let us pray for our health and, above all, the pope's, and everything will work out for the best," he said.
Vatican officials said John Paul was in stable condition after being rushed to hospital overnight fighting for breath, and gave assurances to millions of Catholics around the world that the pope's health did not give cause for alarm.
The pope, who was born Karol Joseph Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, was expected to remain in hospital "another few days", Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

02/02/2005 14:48 GMT - AFP