Pope determined to make Toronto trip

By CHRISTINE BOYD, The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, June 18, 2002

Details of the Pope's visits to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico, to be made public today, show that he plans to join hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholics from around the world at the church's Youth Day celebrations despite suffering from Parkinson's disease and other ailments.

"He's clearly frail, and the symptoms of Parkinson's are quite evident, but he's definitely soldiering on," said Paul Kilbertus, the event's director of communications.

John Paul, who turned 82 in May, has deteriorated markedly during the past year and now needs a hydraulic cargo lift to disembark from his aircraft, a wheeled cart to move along the ground and the help of two aides to turn around.

He will head to his summer home at Castel Gondolfo on July 8 for two weeks of rest, sources said yesterday.

The Pope will depart for Toronto on July 23 aboard a chartered Alitalia Boeing 767, arriving at Toronto's Pearson Airport at 1 p.m.

He will then spend two days in secluded retreat at Strawberry Island north of Toronto, resting from the flight and getting over jet lag.

For the remainder of his stay in Canada, John Paul will reside at Morrow Park, the sprawling motherhouse and retirement home for the Sisters of St. Joseph in North York.

He intends to make all three scheduled public appearances for World Youth Day, which is actually a week of festivities taking place July 23-28, the sources say.

On July 25 at 4:30 p.m., the Pope will appear in a welcoming ceremony on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds.

Two days later, on July 27, he will open an overnight vigil in Toronto's Downsview Lands.

The next morning, he will celebrate mass for an anticipated one million people at Downsview Lands, starting at 9:30 a.m.

On July 29, he departs for Guatemala and then Mexico, but his ill health has caused the two trips to being cut to 2-1/2 days instead of the five days originally scheduled.

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