Elderly Pope faces an arduous journey

Pope Benedict XVI faces an arduous journey to Latin America this week, with vast open-air Masses planned in Mexico and Cuba likely to sap the stamina of the German Pontiff, who turns 85 next month.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, always tight-lipped over the Pope’s health, said the Pontiff “is doing very well” for his age, but that the visit has been tailored so as to be less demanding than usual.

Ample time has been scheduled for rest between the Pope’s public appearances.

A sign of the Vatican’s caution is the fact that Pope Benedict will not be travelling to high-altitude regions in Mexico because of his heart problems.

As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he suffered a stroke in 1991 while on holiday in the Alps which weakened his heart and briefly affected his eyesight.

The first two days in particular will be testing: Pope Benedict sets off to Mexico tomorrow on a 14-hour flight and will have to adjust to the seven-hour time difference before beginning a gruelling round of meetings and ceremonies.

Havana Archbishop Jaime Ortega, who will welcome Benedict to Cuba on Monday, has raised the Pontiff’s own concerns over the trip in an interview this week.

Archbishop Ortega told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire that the Pope had told him several times that he would like to visit Cuba, but was concerned that the long trip would be difficult at his age.