Timeline: Pope John Paul's health problems

Pope John Paul

VATICAN CITY- Pope John Paul is suffering from a very high fever caused by a urinary infection and receiving antibiotics, the Vatican said in a statement today.

Following is a timeline of his health problems:

May 13, 1981: Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca shoots and severely wounds the Pope in St Peter's Square. The bullets hit his stomach and hand but miss vital organs.

Emergency surgery at a Rome hospital saves his life but he needs months to recover fully. He is released from hospital after less than two weeks but returns for treatment of a viral infection from blood transfusions during surgery.

He goes back on the road nine months later and enjoys near-perfect health for the next decade.

July 15, 1992: Aged 72, the Pope has major surgery to remove a large intestinal tumour that was beginning to turn malignant. Doctors also remove his gall bladder.

In the same year, symptoms of Parkinson's disease begin to appear. The Pope's left hand begins to tremble and his facial muscles appear stiff. As time passes, secondary symptoms appear including speech and breathing problems and a stooped posture.

Nov 1993: The Pope falls down the stairs of his throne during a Vatican audience, dislocating his right shoulder. He wears a soft cast and a sling for several weeks.

April 28, 1994: John Paul slips in his bath and breaks his right thigh bone. After bone replacement surgery he stays in hospital for a month. He walks with a cane for more than a year and is forced to give up skiing.

Dec 25, 1995: The Pope misses Christmas Mass for the first time in his pontificate because he has influenza. Later that day, nausea makes him interrupt a live televised address.

March 1996: A fever leads to the cancellation of public engagements. A similar fever in August again forces him to cancel events. The Vatican later says a recurring inflammation of the appendix caused the problem and in October he has his appendix removed.

June 5-17, 1999: The Pope's longest visit to his homeland Poland is a triumphant, nationwide tour, but marred by his increasing frailty. He falls and cancels an open-air Mass.

March 2002: A major flare-up of arthritis in the Pope's right knee forces him to cancel several visits to Rome parishes and scale back his activity at Easter events.

Sept 2003: John Paul visits Slovakia and appears exceptionally weak. Aides have to read most of his sermons. He no longer walks in public.

Oct 2003: The Pope is visibly frail during most of the week-long activities for the 25th anniversary of the election.

Feb 1 2005: The Pope needs urgent hospital treatment after severe breathing problems due to influenza but he is not in intensive care, the Vatican says. He returns home 10 days later.

Feb 24, 2005: He is rushed back to hospital after a relapse of earlier flu. Doctors performed a tracheotomy to ease his breathing, robbing him temporarily of his voice.

March 1, 2005: Pope starts speaking again.

March 13, 2005: Pope speaks directly to the Roman Catholic faithful for the first time since throat surgery. He returns to Vatican later that day.

March 24, 2005: A cardinal who stood in for the Pope at a Holy Thursday ceremony at the Vatican says the ailing Pontiff was "serenely abandoning" himself to God's will.

March 27, 2005: The ailing Pope appears at his window to bless the faithful on Easter Sunday but fails in his efforts to speak.

March 30, 2005: Vatican announces that the Pope is being fed through a nasal tube in an effort to boost his strength and help his slow recovery from throat surgery.

March 31, 2005: Vatican says Pope is suffering from very high fever caused by a urinary infection, and receiving antibiotics.

- REUTERS