POLAND: Word spread quickly through Krakow yesterday afternoon that the city's favourite adopted son was recovering, writes Derek Scally
All day long Krakowians trudged through the snow to make an extra trip to their local church.
And though there seems to be one around every corner in Poland's second city, each church had clusters of people lighting candles and praying.
By early afternoon, it seemed the church porches were the best places to get in out of the cold and exchange the latest news in low voices.
"It was a relief to hear he was feeling better," said one old woman after lighting a candle. "I heard on the radio that Hanna Suchocka [the Polish ambassador to the Holy See] was in the hospital.
"Monsignor Dziwisz told her that the Pope ate and breathed on his own."
The ups and downs of the Pope's health are closely watched all over Poland but with particular concern in Krakow, where Fr Karol Józef Wojtyla became archbishop in 1963.
He was born 84 years ago in the nearby town of Wadowice, but moved to Krakow in 1938.
Wojtyla studied secretly for the priesthood under the Nazi occupation, becoming a priest in 1946.
But it was after becoming archbishop that his reputation grew as one of Poland's leading anti-communist figures.
In 1967, he was promoted to cardinal.
The concern among Krakowians was clear yesterday, even among less devout church-goers.
"He's the best Pope ever, and not just because he's Polish," said Michal Balicki, in a bakery near the huge Wawel Cathedral.
"Every time he comes back to Poland, we see how sick he's getting. After he's gone, I think a lot of people here will leave the church."
"The Pope is such a good man, even if I don't think much of the Catholic Church as an institution," said Ursula Kocol (28) in an internet cafe. "Poles are so proud - even when he is sick he can do so much. But now it's a fight for every day."
The President of Poland, Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski, sent a telegram saying "the thoughts and prayers of Poles are with you, Your Holiness, in your suffering".
"We all wish you a speedy recovery, Holy Father, so that Your Holiness may carry on the mission of leadership in the universal church so much needed by the world and Poland," he wrote.