ROME, Feb 4 (AFP) - John Paul II can continue to govern the Roman Catholic Church from his hospital bed, even is he physically unable to speak, a senior Vatican cardinal insisted Friday, three days after the pope was hospitalised with severe breathing problems.
"Even from his hospital bed, it's possible for whoever governs to indicate his wishes and give orders" said Cardinal Mario Francesco Pompedda, an expert in church law and the Vatican's former "justice minister".
John Paul II's sudden hospitalisation late on Tuesday has revived discussion of the fitness of the 84-year-old pontiff, incapacitated by Parkinson's disease and now struck down with flu, to lead the Catholic Church.
It follows the open speculation of many cardinals about the pope's fitness to lead the Church when -- arguably more able then than now -- he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his election 16 months ago.
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Medina said then the pope might consider stepping down -- something he has repeatedly said he would never do -- if his speech difficulty worsened to the point where he was unable to celebrate the mass.
However, Pompedda told the conservative Italian daily Il Giornale in an interview, "John Paul II could continue to be the pope, that is, to exercise his universal jurisdiction over the Church, by expressing his wishes by writing or by gestures" -- should his illness truly silence him.
Currently, the pope struggles to enunciate his words because of Parkinson's disease and often his difficulty has forced him to cut short his public addresses, or sometimes not attempt them at all.
The great fear of many Vatican watchers is that the trauma of the past few days will further diminish what capacities remained to him.
The pope, however, has said many times that he will leave the Vatican only in a box.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and the pope's private secretary Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, are effectively running the Church in the absence of the pope.
Pompedda said in the interview that some of the pontiff's powers could not simply be delegated to anyone else, including that of appointing bishops.
"There are powers which belong solely to the pope and cannot be delegated. Things like nomination of bishops, or certain dispensations concerning matrimony or dispensations concerning priestly duties," said the cardinal, referring to requests for marriage annulments or to leave the priesthood.
"Thank God that's not our case because John Paul II -- though he obviously is suffering and is virtually a prisoner of his body which no longer responds to his requests -- is conscious of the authority that he continues to exercise."
Vittorio Messori, a veteran Vatican-watcher, said the pope would never resign because "you don't resign from fatherhood".
Nothing has changed since German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of the most powerful men in the Vatican, said in May 2002: "When he (the pope) should see that he absolutely no longer is able (to function), then he would surely resign."
"As long as he is only suffering, he will stick it out," Ratzinger said.
The church's code of canon law allows the pope to resign of his own free will and envisages that the pontiff can be declared incapable to govern.
But this has never been tested, and there is no clarity about the criteria that would be necessary to reach such a judgment.
If the pope were declared incapable of governing, the cardinal acting as camerlengo, or chamberlain of the Roman Catholic church, would take over ordinary business until the death of the pontiff.
But he would not be authorized to carry out decisions reserved to the pope, such as the nomination of bishops, judgments on moral issues or the publication of official documents.
02/04/2005 17:14 GMT - AFP