by Gunther Kern
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II made a much awaited appearance at his 10th-floor hospital window on Sunday, waving to about 300 hymn-singing pilgrims below and making the sign of the cross.
The 84-year-old pope, who is recovering from a throat operation, looked gaunt but in reasonably good form, and did not attempt to address the crowd during his brief appearance.
Shortly before, in a message read out by an aide to several thousand pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square, the pope thanked Jews and Muslims for their prayers for his recovery.
"I want to express special recognition of the closeness of believers of other religions, particularly Jews and Muslims.
"Some of them wanted to come and pray here at the hospital. And that for me is a comforting sign, for which I thank God."
Four big screens had been erected around the Vatican square, a few kilometres (miles) from the hospital, allowing pilgrims to see the pope, hunched in his wheelchair, following proceedings as Archbishop Leonardo Sandri performed the traditional Angelus prayer in his name.
In St Peter's Square and outside the pope's Gemelli hospital believers, no longer holding back their emotions, wiped away tears, others applauded.
"We are really moved," said an elderly woman who has been coming to the hospital for the past 10 days. "To see him is so incredibly moving and we hope that he'll be fine soon."
In the message read out by Sandri, the pope made an oblique reference to his "suffering" during his current health crisis, which began on February 24 when he was rushed to hospital with a recurrence of the breathing difficulties that necessitated his operation.
But he also demonstrated a grim determination to fulfill his appointments during Easter Holy Week, traditionally the most demanding of the Christian calendar, which in recent years has noticeably sapped his energy.
Having also thanked the clergy, diplomats, ecumenical delegations and Catholic pilgrims for their good wishes, he said: "We are continuing together the preparation for Easter, offering to God our suffering, for the good of humanity and for our purification."
Some pilgrims in St Peter's believed the time had come for the pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, to step down.
"He should set an example and resign because he is too frail," said German tourist Johannes Jung, 38, from Dortmund.
However, Barbara, 30, from Manila, disagreed. "Even though he's very sick, he should continue. I pray for him every day," she said.
"We are really happy; we will continue to cheer our pope; he must never give up," said another youth.
03/06/2005 12:34 GMT