VATICAN CITY (AP) ­- A gaunt-looking Pope John Paul II made another silent appearance from his apartment window before his worried flock Wednesday, giving his blessing to thousands in St. Peter’s Square, where many wept at the sight of his battle with health problems during Holy Week.

The appearance lasted about one minute, far short of the hour-plus audiences the pontiff traditionally held with the faithful on Wednesdays.

The Vatican’s announcement Tuesday that there would be no audience fueled apprehension that John Paul may have suffered setbacks since Feb. 24 surgery to insert a breathing tube in his throat. He last spoke to the public March 13, shortly before leaving the hospital.

On Wednesday, to the relief of the faithful, a notice was flashed on giant screens in the square that John Paul would give his blessing from his third-floor apartment window.

Holy Week, which culminates this Sunday on Easter, draws big crowds to Rome for the ceremonies, which until this year have been presided over by John Paul. But except for an Easter blessing, the pope has designated cardinals to lead this week’s events.

An Italian cardinal tried to offer assurances about John Paul’s medical condition. “I don’t believe that the situation is alarming,” Cardinal Pio Laghi told reporters in Rome.

“For sure, the doctors protect him” from doing more than is advisable, Laghi said. “Certainly, he wanted to leave Gemelli (hospital) ahead of time. For him, this Holy Week is truly a week of sacrifice, and he relives it with passion.”

After an unexplained 15-minute delay Wednesday, the curtains in a window of the papal apartment were drawn open, and John Paul was wheeled to the open window.

The 84-year-old pontiff appeared touched by the sight and sounds of thousands cheering below, and smiled. Pilgrims from the pope’s Polish homeland sang and waved their nation’s flag. Spanish youths interrupted their singing for the blessing. Some young people jumped up and down in joy to see him at the window.

Others in the square wept or dabbed at tears. One woman embraced a young girl at the sight of the struggling pontiff.

Commenting on the anxious faithful, Vatican Radio said: “The pope appears and the tension dissolves.” John Paul “wanted to show his own nearness to the people,” the radio said.

For years, John Paul has battled the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

, which hampers control of muscles, including those used in facial expressions, breathing, swallowing, walking and making other movements.

As the pontiff repeatedly raised his right hand in blessing, a gauzelike bandage could be seen on his arm. Two fingers on his left hand appeared bruised.

Compared to his equally brief Palm Sunday appearance at the same window, John Paul seemed in better spirits Wednesday. On Sunday, he gripped his head as if in pain and slammed his right hand against the lectern in apparent frustration.

“It’s a blessing to be here today,” said Peter Mundy, a doctor from Bridlington, England, who added that he is not Roman Catholic. “The pope is both a man of the people and a man of God.”

Others sounded determined to bear witness to their affection for him.

“He’s not going to lose his people because he’s sick. People will still love him,” said Bill Ernser of San Francisco.

Dr. Rodolfo Proietti, who headed the medical team that inserted the throat tube, told reporters Tuesday night that no hospitalization was planned. He was reacting to suggestions in the Italian media that the pope’s health had deteriorated abruptly.

Possibly hopeful he could participate in some way, the pope hasn’t delegated anyone to take his place at the long Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening. But given his frailty, it appeared doubtful he could be there.

“For now his apartment is hooked up directly with St. Peter’s Basilica,” where Holy Thursday and Good Friday services are scheduled, Laghi said. “Then we’ll take it day by day.”

For years, the pope has abandoned his practice of carrying a lightweight wooden cross in the procession because of frail health, but had presided over the torch-lit service.

The Vatican said Wednesday that Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pontiff’s vicar of Rome, would carry the cross at the beginning and end of the procession, along with a nun, two Franciscan friars and lay people, including Albanian immigrants and a youth from Sudan.

Each year, John Paul invites a theologian to compose meditations to be read during the procession, and this year, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the pontiff’s guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy, has the task.

The Vatican says the pope is continuing his ministry for the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics. On Wednesday, he named a bishop for Morocco, and made appointments for the Pontifical Academy for Life.

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Associated Press Writer Daniela Petroff contributed to this report.

AP-ES-03-23-05 1434EST

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