It was "business as usual" for Pope John Paul II yesterday on his 83rd birthday. He presided over a canonisation ceremony in St Peter's Square, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome.
Looking frail but sounding strong, the Pope did not ignore his birthday completely, thanking all those who had sent him birthday greetings. At the end of the three-hour service he said: "I would like to extend a 'thank you' to all those people who, in many different ways, have sent me birthday greetings and expressions of good wishes. To each and everyone of you, I would ask you to keep on praying so that the good Lord may help me to faithfully complete the mission that he has entrusted to me."
Although the Pope's birthday was not marked by a special ceremony, many people logged on to the Vatican's website (www.vatican.va) to send birthday wishes to the Pope.
Among those who attended the canonisation ceremony was Polish President Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski. A large delegation of Polish faithful in St Peter's Square broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday shortly after the Pope addressed them in Polish.
Earlier in yesterday's service, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had publicly wished the Pope a happy birthday, paying him this tribute: "To believe and to love: such has been the message of your pontificate. Tirelessly, you show us the face of Christ the Redeemer. Tirelessly, and with the help of Christ, you help us overcome the forces of hate and the prejudices that separate us. You help us find the way that leads to salvation. For this, we express our heartfelt gratitude."
Yesterday's canonisations of two Poles and two Italians brought the number of new saints decreed by John Paul II to 474, significantly more than the 299 saints nominated by all previous popes since 1588. In the 25th year of his pontificate, John Paul II is the fourth-longest serving Pope.
Despite his ill-health, inadvertently underlined by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re in an interview with Milan daily Corriere Della Sera, where he acknowledged that the Pope was suffering from Parkinson's Disease, he still faces a busy travel schedule. He will travel to Croatia, Bosnia, Mongolia and Slovakia later this year.