Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

Pope Francis hails 'suffering' of St. John Paul II on eve of 10th anniversary of his death

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 4c8e3560-
    Image 1 of 3

    Pope Francis greets a child as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (The Associated Press)

  • 3a43c9f5-
    Image 2 of 3

    Pope Francis is cheered by faithful as he leaves St. Peter's Square at the end of the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (The Associated Press)

  • 15622e22-
    Image 3 of 3

    Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (The Associated Press)

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is remembering St. John Paul II as an admirable example of suffering on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Polish-born pontiff's death after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Tourists and pilgrims applauded Francis' praise for John Paul during a public audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday.

John Paul, 84, passed away in his bedroom in the Apostolic Palace that overlooks the square on April 2, 2005, and was proclaimed a saint last year. A vigorous, athletic man when he was elected pope in 1978, the globe-trotting John Paul forged on even as Parkinson's disease diminished his strength and mobility in his final years.

Francis also encouraged sick people to "carry the cross of suffering with joy, as he has taught us."