"With your gaze set firmly" on Jesus, John Paul said, a hush falling over the assemblage, "you will discover the path of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world often laid waste by violence and terror. Last year, we saw with dramatic clarity the tragic face of human malice. We saw what happens when hatred, sin and death take command."...
In recent public Masses, the pope has appeared frail. He has slurred his words heavily and been unable to finish speeches. But this week, he has appeared to many Vatican watchers to be less encumbered by the disease that has imprisoned him.
I'm certainly not a professional "Vatican watcher," but even from my limited perspective, I'd agree with that observation. He appeared to be totally engaged by the young people who surrounded him. His voice was clearer, with a hint of spontanaity and vigor that's been missing in what I've heard recently, at the weekly audiences and so on. What I've also seen in the recent past - strain and frustration - was happily missing as well. It was a moving, welcome sight.