Italy angered over German bishop's remark on Pope

Italy angered over German bishop's remark on Pope
DEUTSCHE PRESSE AGENTUR

ROME, JANUARY 10: Remarks from a leading German churchman on Sunday that Pope John Paul II, 79, might consider retiring on health grounds prompted a chorus of condemnation in the Italian media on Monday.

Newspapers referred to the ``brutal'' and ''premature'' statement by German bishops' conference chairman Karl Lehmann who said on German radio that the Catholic church needed a ``strong man who leads.''

The editorials stressed that bishop Lehmann had broken a strict taboo within the church which does not discuss the retirement of a pontiff.