The Pope’s Death Could Come At Any Time

The sad, final news is not that far off now:

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the Vatican’s health minister, told Mexico’s Televisa dal Vaticano that the pope “is about to die.�

“I talked to the doctors and they told me there is no more hope,� the Mexican cardinal told the television channel.

Expect an unprecedented ourpouring of grief when Pope John II passes away — and analysts noting that he was one of the major political forces of the second half of the 20th Century, a religious leader who helped usher in the end of the Communist bloc.