VATICAN CITY, April 1: Pope John Paul neared death on Friday as his health suddenly worsened, drawing anguished prayers from Catholics around the world reluctant to accept his historic pontificate was near its end. According to a Vatican statement issued on Saturday at 2.30am PST, the 84-year-old Pontiff’s breathing had become shallow and his blood pressure had dropped dangerously low. But it denied Italian media reports that he had died.

Sky Italia TV, quoting a report from Italy’s Apcom news agency, said the Pope had lost consciousness. “There’s no hope any more,” the ANSA news agency quoted an unidentified medical source as saying.

Church officials prepared the world and its 1.1 billion Roman Catholics for the end of the third longest papal reign in history — more than 26 years.

“The general conditions and cardio-respiratory conditions of the Holy Father have further worsened,” said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

“A gradual worsening of arterial hypotension has been noted, and breathing has become shallow. The clinical picture indicates cardio-circulatory and renal insufficiency. The biological parameters are notably compromised,” Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Rome Cardinal Camillo Ruini told a mass at the city’s San Giovanni church that the Pope, who received the blessing for the dying after his health suddenly deteriorated on Thursday night, “already sees and touches the Lord. He is already united with our sole Saviour”.

Catholics flocked to churches to light candles and pray for the Polish churchman who became Pope in 1978 and revitalized the papacy. Groups of faithful gathered in the Vatican’s vast St. Peter’s Square, some gazing up at the papal apartments.

CARDINALS SUMMONED: Cardinals were summoned to the Pope’s bedside to say their farewells in person.