The Vatican sent a reassuring message to the world's Catholics today, saying Pope John Paul was recovering well from a throat operation and undergoing physical rehabilitation to help him breathe and resume speaking.
The keenly awaited medical bulletin on the health of the 84-year-old Pope followed a surprise appearance on Sunday at his hospital window.
A brief statement by chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that the "post-operative phase is taking place without complications" and the Pope's general condition and biological parameters were good.
"The Holy Father is eating regularly, spends some hours in an armchair and has begun exercises to rehabilitate breathing and phonation," the statement said, referring to exercises to help him speak again after the tracheotomy.
The section of the statement on speech rehabilitation was significant because there had been fears among some medical experts that the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics would not be able to speak again.
Italian Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia, who visited Vatican officials at the hospital, said he was optimistic the Pope would make a swift recovery.
"He is having speech therapy and I believe he will speak very soon," Sirchia, a qualified doctor, told reporters. He declined to say whether he had seen the Pope in person.
The Pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital, which the Pope has jokingly dubbed "Vatican Three" because he has spent the most time there after the Vatican Palace itself and the Papal summer residence south of Rome, for the second this month last Thursday.
He was rushed to hospital on Feb. 1 with acute breathing problems but was released 10 days later.
Italian media reported that doctors at the Gemelli had wanted the Pope, whose condition is complicated by Parkinson's Disease, to stay in hospital longer at the start of the month.