Pope being fed through nasal tube: Vatican

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2005

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope John Paul II is being fed through a tube in his nose, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters, adding that his convalescence was "slow" but continued to progress.

The spokesman, making his first comment about the pope's health in more than two weeks, said Wednesday the 84-year-old pope had begun feeding through a tube in his nose to increase his calorie intake.

"To improve the calorific intake and encourage a valid recuperation of strength, internal feeding via the insertion of a naso-gastric tube has begun," Navarro-Valls said in a statement.

The pontiff, who blessed pilgrims from his apartment window earlier Wednesday, has difficulty swallowing and has visibly lost weight since his discharge from Rome's Gemelli...