Vatican City, Feb 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Vatican has denied Pope John Paul II had help from a pre-recorded tape in reciting the Angelus from his hospital window.
After the Pope seemingly choked on the first few words of the Angelus before recovering, Italian media said he had probably received the assistance of a pre-recorded tape played by Vatican audio technicians.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told the ANSA news agency that "the Holy Father's words used during this morning's blessing were the same heard during the live broadcast."
"The suggestion that such a pre-recorded tape of his words were broadcast at the same time is nonsense," he said.
The Pope has been in hospital recovering from the flu since last Tuesday.