Pope visits lakeside centre for disabled

On the first day of his visit to Canada, Pope John Paul, who is staying at a lake retreat, took a boat trip to visit a home for disabled adults. The papal entourage on board the Blue Sapphire, a 10-metre yacht, began their trip by sailing by the Huronia Regional Centre, to allow the Pope to wave to its residents. Then the vessel stopped while he blessed and gave rosary beads to the adults and the young summer staff who were out in paddle boats. Rev. Arthur Sequeira, an associate pastor at Guardian Angels Roman Catholic Church, saw the Pope from about 50 metres from shore. He said: "He looked very calm and very good. He looked very well-rested and in great shape." The Pope is currently staying on Strawberry Island, a retreat run by the Basilian Fathers on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. Towering evergreen and deciduous trees surround the shore of the 40-acre island shrouding the Pope and the 25 to 30 security, clergy and Vatican staff in a veil of privacy. A Mormon group donated one tonne of flowers to spruce up both Strawberry Island and Morrow Park, a religious complex in the north end of Toronto, where he will stay this weekend.