Pope "Alert And Aware"

Vatican sources say that Pope John Paul II is "alert and aware". A source told CNN that the Pontiff had been slipping in and out of consciousness since yesterday, and that there was a "scary situation that arose at dawn", but that the situation has passed.Vatican reports continue to list the Pope in declining condition, suggesting that his heart and kidneys are failing, and going so far as to say that his major bodily functions are incresingly "compensated".