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The Pope visits Rajghat

Suhasini Haidar in New Delhi

Pope John Paul II, who is on a visit to Delhi, went to Rajghat before noon today to pay his respects to the nation's founding father, Mahatma Gandhi.

During his short visit to the samadhi, the Pope laid a wreath and walked around the monument to the Mahatma.

Concerns about the Pope's health had already hit a high note this morning, when due to his illness (the Pope is rumoured to be suffering from Parkinson's disease), he was unable to complete the full inspection of the guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan. At Rajghat too, he seemed to have trouble walking, and almost stumbled on two occasions.

Sources say the Pope had insisted on using only a cane to support himself, though he was assisted at Rajghat by a young officer from the protocol division of the external affairs ministry. At one point, he tried to kneel, possibly to kiss the ground next to the samadhi, but was unable to do so.

"I remember him on his last visit here, " said one official present. "I am shocked by the deterioration in his health since then. It is really creditable that he wanted to travel all the way here at all." The Pope is 79 years old.

Pope John Paul II was accompanied to the samadhi by Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Panja, other officials of the Indian government, and by Indian church officials, including Archbishop of Delhi Alan de Lastic.

The Pope had also visited Rajghat on his last visit to India, in 1986. He was heard remarking about this to accompanying officials. He also remembered the trees he had planted there and at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi.

There was a flutter of interest amongst the journalists present when the Pope decided to write a sentence before signing his name in the guest book of the Rajghat samadhi. Church officials later revealed that he had written a quote from Gandhi himself: "A culture cannot survive if it attempts to be exclusive." He then signed the message as Johannes Paulus II.

Photographs by: Jewella C Miranda

ALSO SEE:
Shiv Sena activists arrested for protest outside Rajghat

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