Prayers are said for dying Pope

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor prayed for the Pope

Prayers have been said for the dying Pope at special services around the UK as he remains in a high fever with his condition very grave.

Thousands of worshippers have visited cathedrals across the country, lighting candles and saying prayers for the 84-year-old Roman Catholic leader.

Around 400 people were at Westminster Cathedral, to hear the Pope's decline compared to Jesus' death.

Vatican officials released a medical bulletin on the Pope at 1820 BST.

POPE'S UK VISIT The Pope came to the UK in May 1982 Six-day tour took in cities including London, Coventry, Liverpool and Glasgow A special mass was held at Westminster Cathedral Met the Queen at Buckingham Palace Was the first pope to visit Canterbury Cathedral Called for peace when he became the first pope to visit Ireland in 1979 In pictures: UK prays for Pope Polish community prays Health update: Full statement

Alan Hopes, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, told the congregation this was the end of the Pope's "journey through life".

"He has said he has been searching for God all his life and now He has come to him. I think he is at rest in that."

Meanwhile at Armagh Cathedral in Northern Ireland and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh a steady flow of worshippers called to pray for the ailing Pope ahead of a special celebratory mass.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of Scotland's Catholic community told the BBC on Saturday: "I imagine, not being at the scene, that the Pope like many, many other old people preparing for death is just tired now.

"He has lived a long and very active life.

"He has had a great influence all over the world and I think that he is at rest, peacefully preparing to meet his maker."

Health Secretary John Reid - a Catholic - made a private visit to Westminster Cathedral to pray for the Pope.

Thoughts and prayers

"He has been a constant reminder to all of us, particularly in the affluent West, of the impoverishment... that is in the world," said Mr Reid, who met the Pope four years ago while secretary of state for Scotland.

Worshippers across the UK are prepared for the worse

On Friday the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, said: "It is not only my prayers and those of Catholics which are being offered, but those of fellow Christians and countless others who have grown to respect and admire this man, who has been in so many ways a witness and extraordinarily important moral voice for the world."

The Archbishop of Armagh and Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Dr Sean Brady, celebrated the Pope as a man who understood the suffering brought by strife.

He said: "He knows how much we suffered for our faith."

There are an estimated 5.5 million Catholics across the UK.