POPE PLANS VISIT IN BULGARIA

Views on BG | January 1, 2002, Tuesday // 00:00

By FRANCES D'EMILIO

Extracted from the Associated press

The pope traveled to Kazakstan, Greece and Syria in 2001. Next year (e.g. 2002 - editor's note), he intends to visit Canada and possibly Bulgaria.

Pope John Paul II prayed Monday for the strength to continue in his papacy, which has seen a once robust, tireless pontiff lose energy and struggle with health problems.

"I ask God for the strength to carry on, until He wants me to, in faithful service to the Church of Rome and to the entire world," John Paul said in his traditional New Year's Eve homily, sparking applause and tears from the congregation in St. Peter's Basilica.

The pope's prayer came a day after the Vatican denied an Italian newspaper report suggesting that John Paul, allegedly feeling his health was deteriorating rapidly, wanted to move up the sainthood ceremony for popular Italian monk Padre Pio, a figure especially dear to the pontiff.

The Vatican press office on Monday also issued statistics for the pontiff's years, saying his audiences attracted more than 2.5 million people.

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