ROME, Feb 12 (AFP) - Pope John Paul II "is well" and will soon be able to resume work following his nine-day hospitalisation, the head of the Italian bishops conference said in an interview published Saturday.
"The pope is well, the flu is over, and I think he will be able to get back to work in a few days," Cardinal Camillo Ruini told the daily La Repubblica, adding that when he visited the 84-year-old pontiff in hospital on Wednesday he "spoke well."
Ruini voiced confidence in the pope's "capacity for work, expressed not only in speeches but also in decision-making."
He predicted that John Paul II, who left hospital on Thursday after recovering from a throat infection resulting from flu, would be able to attend World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in August.
The pope is expected to appear for the weekly Angelus prayer at a window of his Vatican apartment overlooking Saint Peter's Square on Sunday, but he may perform just the blessing while allowing the text of the prayer to be read out by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, as occurred last Sunday from his hospital window.
On Friday he skipped a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica marking the World Day of the Sick, but had a message read out in which he vowed to continue "serving the Church."
02/12/2005 10:26 GMT - AFP