1.   For about the past decade, because of difficulties in bending down, the frail pontiff has been offered a vessel holding soil to kiss.

2.   For the past decade, the frail pontiff has been offered a vessel holding soil to kiss.

3.   In recent years, because of difficulties in bending down, the frail pontiff has been offered a vessel holding soil to kiss.

4.   Since that operation, the frail pontiff has walked slowly, using a cane.

5.   The apology was a personal landmark for the frail pontiff who vowed to cleanse and reinvigorate Catholicism for its third millennium.

6.   The frail pontiff was holding up remarkably well on the fifth day of his weeklong pilgrimage.

7.   The strain had begun to show on the frail pontiff this week.

8.   Speculation has been rife in recent days that the increasingly frail pontiff could be forced to cancel the trip on health grounds.