VATICAN CITY - As Pope John Paul II lay near death Saturday in his Vatican apartment, his very public way of dying carries a powerful and universal message of serenity in the face of suffering and mortality.
The Vatican has spared little detail in describing the pontiff`s condition, medical treatment and suffering, while senior cardinals are clearly preparing the world`s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics for his imminent demise.
Suffering -- but finding relief through faith -- has been a constant theme of the latter years of John Paul II`s 26-year pontificate.
Afflicted by Parkinson`s disease, with severe lung and throat problems and confined to a wheelchair, the pope has used his own frailty as a message.
It is "a public death, like that of Christ on the cross," commented Gaspare Barbiellini Amidei in a front-page editorial in the Corriere della Sera.
"These past 24 hours, as valuable as a long reign, have forced the public opinion of this world, glued to its television sets, to accept the visibility of the invisible, to understand that there is something more than success in the story of this man."
On his foreign trips -- last year in Lourdes, southwest France, for example -- the pope`s obvious frailty kneeling at a shrine, his mumbled words, haggard expression and difficulty breathing have often moved pilgrims to tears.
His pronouncements, too, have focused on overcoming suffering, including a comparison he made with the agony of the crucified Jesus.
At Lourdes, his message to sick pilgrims who visit there in their millions every year was that he was one of them, and they should be comforted by God`s love.
"With you I share a time of life marked by physical suffering, yet not for that reason any less fruitful in God`s wondrous plan," he said then.
Similarly, two weeks ago during Holy Week ceremonies leading up to Easter, cardinals and pilgrims alike compared his suffering to that of Jesus.
"He shows us what redemptive suffering is," said Joan Williams of Chicago, after seeing the pope, clearly in difficulty, silently bless the crowds on St. Peter`s Square shortly before Easter.
Paddy Agnew, a Vatican-watcher for the best part of 20 years, said Saturday that the pope was sending a counter-message about the dignity of all life in a world often dominated by a glossy ideal of youth, vitality and beauty.
"Suffering is a part of the human experience, and the Vatican has made an awful lot of mileage out of it in the last few years," he told AFP.
He said the pope`s closest advisors had not wanted him to pursue his trips abroad because of his failing health, but had been impressed by the emotional response to his suffering.
"They realised it was a very powerful message," and to a certain extent had "stage-managed" his public image in the two months as his health deteriorated further.
The regular Vatican bulletins on the pope`s condition, and the comments of officials, while not hiding the extent of his frailty, also seek to underline that he accepts his fate.
They talk of him being "extraordinarily serene," lucid, calmly awaiting the end, regularly celebrating or attending mass, having scriptures read to him.
It is this serenity in the face of death that the Catholic Church clearly also wants to project, highlighting Christianity`s fundamental message that to die in this world is only the start of eternal life in the next.
04/02/2005 13:12 GMT