Papal Well-wishers Turn to E-mail

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 7, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Over three days, more than 20,000 e-mails were sent to John Paul II expressing best wishes and guaranteeing prayers for him as he recovers from his tracheotomy.

From March 1 to noon of March 3, the Pope received some 10,000 messages in English, 6,077 in Spanish, 2,012 in Portuguese, 1,134 in Italian, 850 in German and 800 in French.

These statistics do not include messages in Polish, the Vatican press office said in its announcement.

"Most e-mails seem to be from ordinary faithful throughout the world and a few ... are from people who had been away from their faith and now have returned," the press office said in a statement.

The Holy See said that, in general, the messages are brief, "wishing the Pope well, telling him how his suffering is an example to all, or simply thanking him for all he has done and continues to do for the Church, especially in promoting the value of human life and human dignity."

Some messages are longer "and recount personal experiences of ill health, physical and mental suffering, or personal conversions."

The Holy Father's e-mail address is john_paul_ii@vatican.va.