No knee surgery for Pope
The Vatican today denied reports that doctors are considering surgery on Pope John Paul’s ailing right knee.
The frail pope cut back his participation in several Holy Week ceremonies because of what the Vatican described as arthrosis, a joint disease involving destruction of cartilage.
One newspaper said surgery was planned within days.
But John Paul’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said the report was ‘‘without any foundation.’’
The pope, who turns 82 in May, suffers from several ailments.
His voice is often slurred and his hands tremble, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
