Pope John Paul II Is Shot
On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla in Poland, was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca in Saint Peter's Square. The incident occurred less than three years into his papacy, during which John Paul II had already gained significant respect for his role in addressing both spiritual and political issues, notably his support for the Solidarity movement in Poland against its communist regime. The assassination attempt left the pope severely injured but he survived, later attributing his recovery to the intervention of the Virgin Mary.
Agca, initially claiming to be linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, later suggested he acted on behalf of the Bulgarian secret police under Soviet instruction, although no corroborating evidence has emerged. Following his recovery, John Paul II famously forgave Agca during a prison visit, demonstrating his commitment to reconciliation. After serving time in Italy, Agca was extradited to Turkey to continue his sentence for a previous murder. Throughout his papacy, John Paul II significantly increased the visibility of the Catholic Church and worked towards resolving theological disputes with other Christian denominations.
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Pope John Paul II Is Shot
Pope John Paul II Is Shot
On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot by a Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Agca in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican. The 60-year-old pontiff was seriously injured, but he survived and is alive as of the writing of this book.
John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. His birth name was Karol Wojtyla. As a young man he studied theology during the difficult years of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Poland. After the war, Wojtyla was ordained a priest in 1946 and went on to earn several doctorates in theology. He became a secondary bishop of Krakow, one of Poland's largest cities, in 1958. Wojtyla rose to become archbishop of Krakow in 1964 and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1967. He was actively involved in the Second Vatican Council, summoned there to address a variety of theological issues facing the church in the 20th century, and several bishops' conferences.
Wojtyla also became involved in political issues, being openly sympathetic to the Solidarity labor movement in Poland as it drew international attention by daring to stand up against Poland's repressive, Soviet-backed communist regime. Supporting Solidarity was a dangerous move, since Poland's Roman Catholic Church had an uneasy relationship with the powerful communist government, whose ideology endorsed atheism. Further, official ideology also stated that the communist party represented the working classes, so the Solidarity movement was a challenge to the party's authority. Wojtyla gained worldwide respect and admiration for his courage.
Like all cardinals, Wojtyla was eligible for election to the papacy when Pope John Paul I died in 1978. However, the church hierarchy of the Vatican in Rome was dominated by Italians, and no non-Italian had been elected pope for nearly five centuries, until Wojtyla was chosen on October 16, 1978. He took the name John Paul II in honor of his immediate predecessor.
Less than three years after his election, John Paul II was shot in the hand, the arm, and the abdomen at point-blank range by Mehmet Ali Agca and wounded so seriously that he nearly lost his life. (The pope has said that he owes his survival to the direct intervention of the Virgin Mary.) Agca was captured at the scene by the Italian authorities. At first he claimed to be an agent of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but the Palestinians denied it. Later, while serving a life sentence in an Italian jail, Agca said that he had really been working for the Bulgarian secret police, and that they had been pressured by the Soviet Union to kill the pope in revenge for his support of Solidarity. No evidence has emerged to confirm either story, and Agca's motives (and his sanity) remain in question. John Paul II visited his would-be assassin in prison and forgave him for the shooting, and in 2000 the Italian authorities granted clemency so that Agca could be extradited to Turkey, where he still had to complete a sentence for the 1978 murder of a newspaper editor. (Agca was a fugitive when he shot the pope.)
John Paul II has continued to travel widely, bringing a higher profile to the papacy and often visiting non-Catholic lands. His many achievements include working to resolve ancient disputes with other Christian denominations such as the Anglican Church of England and the Orthodox Church.