Tracheotomy was performed by Doctors on Pope

The Vatican said that Pope John Paul II was hospitalized again on Thursday after being treated for the flu and breathing difficulties from two weeks. The 84-year-old pontiff was taken to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital. He had been convalescing after his discharge and seemed to be making a strong rebound, appearing twice at the window of his Vatican studio to greet pilgrims.

Pope wheezed and looked gaunt but managed to make his longest public appearance since leaving the hospital. Vatican originally planned for the frail pontiff to address pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square from his apartment window Wednesday but decided instead on a video hookup because of the rain and wind. Pope appearing somewhat gaunt and wheezing as he spoke made his longest public appearance Wednesday since his hospitalization.

It was broadcast by video hookup after the Vatican canceled an appearance at his apartment window after rain and winds lashed Rome. The audience lasted 30 minutes, the longest time he has appeared in public since returning to the Vatican on Feb. 10. The operation, an incision into the windpipe, took about 30 minutes and ended, without complications, at 8:50 p.m., a Vatican official said. The pope reportedly gave his consent for the procedure.

The doctors are satisfied with the way he has undergone the surgery. Letta called the atmosphere at Gemelli Hospital in Rome “very calm” but said the doctors would spend the night in the hospital to be near their patient. The pope was brought to the hospital earlier Thursday, less than two weeks after he had been released from the facility after a nine-day stay from complications of the flu. But the tracheotomy may require a longer hospital stay and have serious consequences for the pope’s abilities to carry out his duties since he will not be able to speak while the breathing tube is in his throat.

Outside medical experts said John Paul may have pneumonia. The Vatican declined to respond to such speculation, saying only that the pope suffered from a “syndrome of influenza.'’ The pope’s sudden turn for the worse alarmed the faithful from Nigeria to the Philippines to St. Peter’s Square, and raised more doubts about his ability to carry on.

“We have prayed for the pope to live as long as possible so we can still share our joy with him,'’ said Zofia Gebala, a 73-year-old retiree, as she left a church in Wadowice, the pope’s birthplace in southern Poland. “We are praying for him every day, for his well-being. But it’s all in God’s hands now.'’ John Paul, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, had greeted pilgrims twice at the window of his studio at St. Peter’s Square since his release from Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital on Feb. 10. On Wednesday, he made his longest public appearance - 30 minutes - since he fell ill more than three weeks ago.

With each successive appearance, he seemed a little stronger, a little more alert, and his voice rang out with greater clarity. That made Thursday’s reversal all the more shocking for the faithful. “We are so scared because he has been sick in the past,'’ said Vanessa Animo Bono, 32, a Roman Catholic being treated at Gemelli. “He is one of the few popes who are actually able to listen to people.'’