Long rows of chairs were lined up yesterday outside St. Peter's Basilica in anticipation of weekend ceremonies in which the pope will name new saints.

And Vatican officials said Pope John Paul plans to go ahead with a crowded schedule that includes marking the 25th anniversary of his election on Oct. 16 and the elevation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta toward sainthood on Oct. 19, an event expected to draw more than 150,000 pilgrims from around the world.

But on several occasions recently, prominent cardinals spoke of the pope's mortality and frailty with unusual candor. In each case, aides quickly sought to downplay comments and calm concerns.

Austrian Cardinal Christ-oph Schoenborn stirred the most controversy when he said the pope was "approaching his last days and months" of life. The world, he said, is experiencing a pope "who is dying."

"There is no need for alarm," said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who said he ate with the pontiff Thursday. "The pope is a strong man with a lucid mind and a clear vision of the world."

The parade of cardinal commentary was unusual for what is often a closed hierarchy that rarely comments in detail on the pope's health.

Particularly vexing for the Vatican, however, is how to juggle the fanfare associated with the month's celebrations and what many feel should be a solemn reckoning with what appears to be the pope's waning time on Earth.

His aides have never been able to dissuade the sick pontiff from pursuing an active agenda, and less so now. Yet each public appearance only reinforces his poor condition.

"The spectacle of the pope's suffering creates confusion in the language and in the heart — even for the cardinals," said Luigi Accattoli, a well-connected "Vaticanologist," as veteran Vatican-watchers are known.

It is not in dispute that the pope, who at 83 has endured the bullets of a would-be assassin, hip and knee surgeries, a malignant tumor and years of Parkinson's disease, is in deteriorating health. He has recently been unable to finish public speeches and is frequently short of breath.

But it would be difficult to find a single Vaticanologist prepared to say, with any certainty, that death is imminent.

Pope John Paul last weekend named another 31 cardinals, filling out the ranks of the body that will produce his successor. The announcement came months ahead of schedule, further suggesting time may be running out.