section_path: Health
section_name: Health
paragraph_text: Health
  
  When he became pope in 1978 at the age of 58, John Paul II was an avid sportsman. He remained extremely healthy and active especially in his first years of papacy, jogging in the Vatican gardens, weight training, swimming, and hiking in the mountains. He was fond of football, skiing and swimming. The media contrasted the new pope's athleticism and trim figure to the poor health of John Paul I and Paul VI, the portliness of John XXIII and the constant claims of ailments of Pius XII. The only modern pope with a fitness regimen had been Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), who was an avid mountaineer, conquering summits like Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc (the highest of the Alps) and Matterhorn. Media occasionally referred to John Paul II's fitness regimen: for example, an Irish Independent article in the 1980s labelled him the keep-fit pope, and an Italian newspaper called him l'atleta di Dio ("God's athlete") in 2005.
  
  However, after over 26 years as pope, two assassination attempts, one of which injured him severely, and a number of cancer scares, John Paul's physical health declined. In 2001 he was diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease. International observers had suspected this for some time, but it was only publicly acknowledged by the Vatican in 2003. Despite difficulty speaking more than a few sentences at a time, trouble hearing, and severe osteoarthrosis, he continued to tour the world although rarely walking in public.
  
  When he became pope in 1978 at the age of 58, John Paul II was an avid sportsman. He remained extremely healthy and active especially in his first years of papacy, jogging in the Vatican gardens, weight training, swimming, and hiking in the mountains. He was fond of football, skiing and swimming. The media contrasted the new pope's athleticism and trim figure to the poor health of John Paul I and Paul VI, the portliness of John XXIII and the constant claims of ailments of Pius XII. The only modern pope with a fitness regimen had been Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), who was an avid mountaineer, conquering summits like Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc (the highest of the Alps) and Matterhorn. Media occasionally referred to John Paul II's fitness regimen: for example, an Irish Independent article in the 1980s labelled him the keep-fit pope, and an Italian newspaper called him l'atleta di Dio ("God's athlete") in 2005.
  
  However, after over 26 years as pope, two assassination attempts, one of which injured him severely, and a number of cancer scares, John Paul's physical health declined. In 2001 he was diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease. International observers had suspected this for some time, but it was only publicly acknowledged by the Vatican in 2003. Despite difficulty speaking more than a few sentences at a time, trouble hearing, and severe osteoarthrosis, he continued to tour the world although rarely walking in public.