BRATISLAVA, Sept 14: Pope John Paul II left Slovakia for Rome on Sunday, at the end of a gruelling four-day visit to the former Communist country dominated by fresh concern over his health.

At his farewell mass the pontiff looked weary and tired towards the end, needing help to read his address. But he was still able to return the enthusiastic greetings of the crowds and his voice initially seemed stronger than it had done in previous days.

The pope is badly affected by Parkinson’s disease and Vatican officials fear this trip, the 102nd of his quarter-century pontificate, may have been last for the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics.

Cardinal Jozef Tomko, who is one of the pope’s closest colleagues in the Vatican, admitted it was “difficult to say if the pope will be able to travel again.”

“We are delighted he has come and very moved by the effort he has made, but a man of his age and in his condition should not travel,” said a doctor close to the Vatican under cover of anonymity. As well as Parkinson’s, the Pope suffers from arthritis, and has survived an attempt on his life and several operations.—AFP