Pope John Paul II celebrated his 25th anniversary as pontiff with a Mass at 18.00 in St Peter's Square on Thurs 16 Oct. The occasion marked the beginning of another busy week for the frail 83-year-old pope, who attended a concert in his honour on Fri 17 Oct and a meeting of cardinals the following day. On Sun 19 Oct he presided over a 10.00 ceremony to beatify Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which attracted up to 400,000 people to St Peter's Square. On Tues 21 Oct he will hold a consistory, at which he will officially appoint the 31 new cardinals he announced last month. Twenty-six of them are under 80 and qualify as members of the papal electoral college, taking the number of cardinals currently eligible to vote for the pope's successor to 135.