Guardian snip:
Thursday August 12, 2004 3:46 PM
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Joined by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, the ailing Pope John Paul II will make a weekend trip to Lourdes, France, visiting a shrine associated with miraculous cures.
The Vatican insists the 84-year-old pope, slowed by Parkinson's disease and other ailments, is not seeking a cure for his illnesses, but the visit Saturday and Sunday clearly holds special significance for him.
``I consider the possibility of returning to Lourdes a special gift of providence,'' the pope told pilgrims at his summer residence Wednesday.
The pope visited the sanctuary in 1983 after recovering from a 1981 assassination attempt.
From:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4414346,00.htmlMaybe JP2 is hoping for a BIGGER MIRACLE than cure for his Parkinsons: miraculous come-back from bankruptcy in the US and Europe where his church is being hauled over the coals for years and years of child rape/abuse and cover-ups.
Sunday is Feast of the Assumption: maybe he's assuming things will get miraculously better after the Lourdes trip....