People

By Guy D. Garcia

Whether espousing church doctrine or schussing down a snowy slope, John Paul II has always enjoyed lofty perspectives. Last week the high-minded Pope was in his element during a 24-hour visit to the mountainous northern Italian region of Val d'Aosta. No one wanted to risk a papal stumble, of course. So he was helicoptered on a sightseeing tour of the area around Mont Blanc, Europe's tallest peak (elevation 15,771 ft.), and troops checked every possible loose rock at the places where he was to set down. The Pope nonetheless did his best to get a taste of past climbing days in Poland. At the Brenva Glacier he insisted on a solitary, blissful 20-minute stroll on the ice. On Mount Chetif (elevation 7,687 ft.), John Paul spoke briefly, decrying recent terrorist attacks in Karachi and Istanbul as "horrendous and almost unbelievable acts." Then, waving away helping hands with open irritation, he climbed unassisted down and up a narrow, rocky path to pray at a 13-meter-tall stone statue of Mary the Queen of Peace. Told that local villagers hike up from the valley floor every year to hear Mass there, John Paul replied, "Then they must be better mountain climbers than the Pope."