UPDATE: Vatican Denies Reports that Pope has Died

Update [2005-4-1 13:55:34 by FleetAdmiralJ]: Ok, here is the deal: CNN reported that the Pope died, then pulled back citing lack of confirmation. Has reported that either his EKG or EEG has gone flat.

MSNBC is reporting that the Pope has lost consciousness and has very shallow breathing, but has not yet died. MSNBC also reporting that the Pope has suffered Kidney failure and that "a machine monitoring the Pope" has gone flat.

AP now reports the Vatican is denying reports of the Pope's death.

Now, Reuters has finally released a story:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Italian media gave contradictory reports about Pope John Paul's vital signs on Friday, first saying his heart and brain activity had stopped and then reporting this was not true.

There was no official comment from the Vatican.

The first reports, picked up by the state broadcaster RAI, said his electrocardiogram had gone flat. The ADNkronos news agency said monitoring showed his brain activity had halted.

But Sky Italia television later quoted Vatican sources saying both his brain and heart were still functioning.