The Vatican denies reports that Pope John Paul II has died. Earlier, Italian media agencies gave contradictory reports about the state of the Pope's health.
Reuters news agency, citing unconfirmed Italian media reports, said Pope John Paul II, the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, had died.
But Italy's Sky Italia released a report quoting Vatican sources that said the Pope's brain and heart were still functioning. The Vatican denied the report.
"It is not true that the Pope is dead and there is no truth that his electro-encephalogram is flat because there is no such machine in the papal apartments," a Vatican official said.
The last official Vatican statement on his health said the Pope's breathing "has become shallow," and that his kidneys are not functioning.