ROME, Feb 25: Pope John Paul spent a restful night in hospital after throat surgery and was breathing unassisted but doctors have advised him not to speak for several days, the Vatican said on Friday.
The Vatican's first medical bulletin, issued some 16 hours after the Pope had a tracheotomy to open his windpipe and help him breathe, aimed at soothing a worried Roman Catholic Church.
Spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls told reporters the 84-year-old Pope's heart and blood circulation were good and he had no bronchial pneumonia infection - a possible complication of the operation on Thursday to ease his breathing problems.
"The Holy Father spent a night of tranquil rest. This morning he ate breakfast with a good appetite," he said, adding that it consisted of milk with coffee, biscuits and yoghurt.
"The post-operative situation continues regularly. He is breathing on his own and cardio-circulatory conditions remain good ... he does not need respiratory assistance, that means no mechanical device was used either yesterday or today," he said.
Among the world's many relieved Catholics was Sister Maria Pinni, a 92-year-old Italian nun walking in St Peter's Square. "What anxiety he put me through!" she said when told that the Pope appeared to be doing well. "That's good news and gives us reason to hope he will recover fully and remain well."
The Pope was rushed to hospital for the second time this month on Thursday with a relapse of acute breathing problems. In the evening doctors cut a hole in his windpipe to prevent him from choking and placed a tube into his throat to allow air to flow directly to his lungs.
Navarro Valls said that when he awoke from surgery the Pope asked for paper and wrote jokingly: "What have they done to me". He also scribbled his Latin motto "Totus Tuus," (totally yours), a phrase about his devotion to the Mother of God.
BUSH SENDS BEST WISHES: As Catholics around the world prayed, leaders who acknowledge the Pope's towering role in the events of the 20th century - including helping the fall of communism in his native Poland - expressed their affection and apprehension.
"The Holy Father is in our thoughts and prayers, and we wish him a speedy recovery and return to the service of his Church and all humanity," US President George W. Bush said.
While the Pope is alive he is the only leader of the 1.1 billion-member Roman Catholic Church. Its bureaucracy can run without him but his aides have no major decision-making powers. But the man known as the Church's great communicator might not be able to speak for some time, medical experts said, and even then he may need a special device to help him form sounds.
Navarro Valls sought to play down such fears, indicating the Pope might be speaking again in days not weeks. "Upon the advice of his doctors, the Pope must not speak for several days so as to favour the recovery of the functions of the larynx," he said.
Medical experts said the operation to open his throat showed he had been in danger and warned there was a significant likelihood he could develop pneumonia, though he has not so far. -Reuters