POPE John Paul will enter hospital tomorrow evening for a planned appendix operation, according to the Vatican.
It did not say when the operation would take place but sources said it would most likely be on Monday or Tuesday.
The operation will take place at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where the Pope, who is 76, has undergone surgery five times since his election in 1978.
Last night the Vatican denied an Italian news agency report that Pope John Paul may be suffering from a new tumour. The Pope had a colon tumour removed in 1992. The Vatican said an inflamed appendix was the cause of the Pope's recent illnesses, fevers and discomfort.
Some doctors in Italy and abroad who are not treating the Pope have expressed scepticism about the Vatican's official version of what is ailing the leader of the world's 960 million Roman Catholics.