The Pontiff had taken no breakfast when, at 8 a.m., he stepped into a little, white-walled room in his Vatican apartment. Flanking an X-ray table set up for the occasion were four doctors. As the ailing Pope raised his hand in blessing, all knelt for a short prayer. Then, at last, the doctors were able to begin a task that should have been done months, if not years ago: a thorough X-ray of their patient's intestinal tract. (Many times during his recurrent illness the Pope could not have stood the process, but some Vaticaners...
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