The Vatican suggested today for the first time that a frail Pope John Paul may need to cut back on foreign trips, saying he could drop Mexico and Guatemala from a 10-day trip to the Americas in late July.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters that on paper at least three countries were still part of the trip, which starts in Toronto in Canada, where the 82-year-old Pope will attend World Day of Youth celebrations from July 23 to 28.
It was the first time the spokesman had suggested a trip could be curtailed if advisers decided it would be too demanding for the Pontiff.
The Pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has looked frail throughout his five-day trip to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, moving with difficulty and stumbling over his speech, which at times is barely comprehensible.
Aides have recently begun reading his homilies for him because his illness has made it increasingly difficult for him to pronounce words clearly and be understood.
Vatican officials say he is coping well with the strain, despite clear difficulties moving. Parkinson's disease restricts his mobility and makes one hand tremble uncontrollably.
After Toronto, the Pope is due in Mexico City for the canonisation of Mexican Indian Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, whose visions of the Virgin Mary in the 16th century helped the Catholic Church in its drive to convert indigenous people.
The last stop of the tour would be Guatemala City from July 31 to August 2 where the Pope is due to canonise a 17th century missionary.
Today the Pontiff, in the final act of his first bridge-building visit to Bulgaria, beatified three Roman Catholic priests who had been executed for spying by the Communists half a century ago.