John Paul Takes Rare Day Off to Take In Rockies : Religion: The Pope celebrates Mass with bishops and blesses ill, disabled youths. In cassock and sneakers, he then indulges his love of hiking.

DENVER —  With rosary beads, a new pair of white sneakers with yellow laces and a book of poetry, a beaming Pope John Paul II strode high into the Rocky Mountains on Friday for a rare day off.

The break in the Pope’s visit to his church’s World Youth Day ceremonies here was uncharacteristic, but it was long planned at the suggestion of Denver Archbishop J. Francis Stafford.

On a warm cloudy day, John Paul--who has a lifelong love for the outdoors and for mountains in particular--walked in his white cassock at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet near Estes Park north of Denver.

“He hiked, and therefore rested. He prayed and he read. I think he was very, very happy,” said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro, who accompanied the Pope on a two-hour walk before lunch. John Paul donned the size 11 sneakers that were a gift from local children, who also provided a blue warm-up jacket and a walking stick.

Before lunch at a Catholic retreat house, the 73-year-old John Paul walked, “praying the rosary and stopping from time to time,” Navarro said. At one point he sat down by a mountain stream and read from a book of poetry brought in an aide’s rucksack. He rested after a light lunch, then walked some more, Navarro said.

Asked if the Pope needed a rest because he tires more easily since undergoing a July, 1992, bowel operation, Navarro replied: “After his operation last year, the idea of a day of rest was categorically ruled out by him. The origin of this (today’s walk) was an invitation by Bishop Stafford, who said, ‘You have to see the Rocky Mountains.’ ”

John Paul’s hike took place in the company of a few aides and watchful security guards.

The spiritual leader and chief executive officer of the world’s 950 million Catholics resumes his World Youth Day activities today.

And it likely will be a hard sell when he attempts to persuade the 186,000 young people gathered in Denver from around the world to believe his unpopular sexual teachings.

In a major speech at a Mass Sunday, aides said, the Pope will address sexual misconduct among priests--an issue that lately has become a major concern for the Catholic church in America.

John Paul was in strong voice Friday at an early morning Mass with his fellow bishops. He told pastors of the 58 million American Catholics that they must pay special attention to the care and education of the young believers who are filling Denver streets in high spirits and great numbers.

“These are the days in which the light of the Gospel must shine before them with a particular brilliance,” the Pope said. “The church of the third millennium needs to be firmly planted in the heart of the new generation of the sons and daughters of the living God.”

The pontiff told the bishops that young Catholics must clearly understand that their church, more than an institution of man, is in communion with God.

“From our words and actions, do they conclude that the church is indeed a mystery of communion with the Blessed Trinity, and not just a human institution with temporal aims?” John Paul challenged his bishops.

After the Mass, the pontiff greeted a number of seriously disabled and dying young Americans who had asked to meet him. When the Pope then went off into the mountains, he left behind powerful therapy.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” said 14-year-old Patrick Mashman of Jacksonville, Fla., who suffers from cerebral palsy. “I was so nervous it was pathetic,” said the boy, who came for his papal greeting in a T-shirt reading: “Life is short, pray hard.”

Another to receive a special papal blessing was 21-year-old Lynda Drabek, a Denver Catholic who is battling chronic rejection of a transplanted heart and lung that she received in 1990.

“It was just incredible. His hands were so soft and just childlike. He just radiates peace,” she said. “This and the day I got my transplants are the two most important days of my life. There almost aren’t words to put to this experience.”

After his walk, John Paul appeared via a television hookup to an exuberant young crowd at a Stations of the Cross celebration in Mile High Stadium, where the Pope first addressed pilgrims from 70 nations Thursday night. About two-thirds of the young people at the weeklong festival are from the United States.

Today, John Paul will celebrate a public morning Mass, meet with young people in a sports arena and participate in an evening vigil in Cherry Creek state park outside Denver.

On Sunday, the pontiff winds up his third American visit with a Mass in the park, which is expected to draw half a million people.