Pope struggles through mass at French shrine that brings hope to the ailing
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LOURDES, France  - A sick man among the sick, Pope John Paul struggled through Sunday mass at a French shrine that draws desperate people seeking miracle cures. The 84-year-old pontiff gasped, trembled and asked aides for help during the 2&#189; hour service in sizzling heat.
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Pope John Paul's visit to Lourdes last  weekend left the Roman Catholic shrine with a 1.2 million euro  ($1.47 million) deficit because pilgrims keen to get good seats  at his mass rushed past collection boxes.
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Tucked away in the rolling  hills of southern Poland, this sleepy provincial town is slowly  becoming a pilgrimage destination for Roman Catholics devoted  to its most famous son, the late Pope John Paul.
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A huge crowd attended a mass  with Pope Benedict on Sunday as the Pontiff prepared to visit  the Auschwitz death camp to pray for peace as Catholic leader  and a &quot;son of Germany.&quot;
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Pope John Paul, looking weak and barely  able to talk, appeared at his hospital window on Sunday for the  first time since he was taken ill and said through an aide that  he was still "serving the Church and all humanity."
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VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II is making a steady recovery from flu and breathing difficulties and Vatican officials hope he will be strong enough to address Roman Catholic faithful on Sunday from his hospital suite.
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The sudden hospitalization of Pope  John Paul was another reminder, if any were needed, that one of  the longest and most event-studded pontificates in history may  be coming to a close.
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Pope John Paul, a sick man among the sick, wound up a emotional visit to this miracle shrine Sunday and struggled with iron determination to finish a sermon in order to encourage others suffering around him.
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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.
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Pope Benedict XVI encouraged prayers Friday for the beatification of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, an eagerly awaited remark on a cause close to the hearts of many Poles.
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Pope John Paul, looking tired and speaking with difficulty, put five Catholics on the road to sainthood Sunday, including the 19th century German mystic nun who inspired Mel Gibson&#39;s film on Christ&#39;s passion.
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LOURDES, France - A frail Pope John Paul II, breathing heavily and gasping at times, celebrated an open-air Mass on Sunday for several hundred thousand pilgrims, many in wheelchairs, at a shrine to the Virgin Mary that is associated with miraculous cures.    At one point he said "help me" in Polish while struggling through his homily in French...
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A frail Pope John Paul II put three more Roman Catholics on the road to sainthood during a visit to a hilltop shrine Sunday, struggling at times but cheered on by 200,000 pilgrims.
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LOURDES, France -- A sick man among the sick, Pope John Paul II struggled yesterday through Sunday Mass at a French shrine that draws desperate people seeking miracle cures. The 84-year-old pontiff gasped, trembled, and asked aides for help during the 2-hour service in the sizzling heat.
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ISTANBUL -- Under a bright morning sun near the Aegean Sea coast, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass yesterday outside the ancient stones that some believe were once the home of the Virgin Mary.
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Colin Riley has gone obediently to Mass since boyhood, but he was mumbling apologies for raw words the other day to a statue of Jesus in the quiet sanctuary of St. Albert the Great. He was seething over efforts to close his church and others around Boston.
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Scores of faithful flocked to a Rome hospital Wednesday where Pope John Paul II was being treated for respiratory problems, offering prayers, flowers and even singing a pop song for the sick pontiff.