Frail pope begins mammoth tour

The pope's health has been a cause of concern in recent months

ROME, Italy -- An increasingly frail Pope John Paul II is preparing to embark on one of the longest trips of his 23-year papacy.

The 82-year-old Pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and sometimes crippling arthritis, is to begin an 11-day, 24,000 kilometres (15,000 miles) tour of Canada, Guatemala and Mexico on Tuesday.

His 97th foreign trip comes just three months after a grueling tour of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria after which the Vatican hinted that his touring schedule may have to be reduced.

In the ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, the pope failed to complete a speech and it took him one minute to walk 50 feet at one engagement.

The pope has spent the summer resting at the papal residence in south Rome.

For the first time in his papacy, he recently did not return to the Vatican for his Wednesday weekly general audience, but held it in the lakeside residence's small courtyard.

The Vatican has made some recent changes to compensate for the pope's frailty.

He no longer climbs the stairs of a plane but uses a mechanical lift; aides wheel him to and from ceremonies on a chariot-like cart. He has also reduced his participation in many long, ceremonial Masses.

The purpose of the trip to Canada is to preside at the closing of the biennial World Youth Day celebrations.

Up to 200,000 people from 170 countries have registered for the Toronto celebrations, in which young Catholics can celebrate their faith, participate in community events, attend concerts and happenings and go to mass and confessions en masse.

Between his arrival in Canada on Tuesday and the weekend culmination of World Youth Day events, the Pope will rest and recover from jet lag at a church retreat on Strawberry Island, 95 km north (60 miles) of Toronto on Lake Simcoe.

From Canada, he goes to Guatemala where he will make a saint of Pedro de San Jose Betancur, a 17th-century Franciscan missionary who founded an order of priests and nuns to help the poor.

In Mexico, he will make a saint of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, a peasant who is said to have had a vision of the Madonna of Guadalupe.

Saint-making has become a mark of John Paul's papacy. He has elevated 462 people to sainthood since 1978.