Pope John Paul II shot
on this day in 1981
Interesting that the one item Ihave seen today about this anniversary comes from Focus, a Bulgarian news agency. Recall that Bulgarian officials are thought to have hired Agca, in behalf of the USSR, to kill the Pope.
ROME, May 13 (FOCUS News Agency) - Pope John Paul II was shot on this day in 1981.
Near the start of his weekly general audience in Rome's St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded while passing through the square in an open car.
The assailant, 23-year-old escaped Turkish murderer Mehmet Ali Agca, fired four shots, one of which hit the Pontiff in the abdomen, narrowly missing vital organs, and another that hit the Pope's left hand.
A third bullet struck 60-year-old American Ann Odre in the chest, seriously wounding her, and the fourth hit 21-year-old Jamaican Rose Hill in the arm.
Agca's weapon was knocked out of his hand by bystanders, and he was detained until his arrest by police.
The Pope was rushed by ambulance to Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he underwent more than five hours of surgery and was listed in critical but stable condition.
Years later, the Pope visited Agca in his jail cell in Rome and intervened with the Italian government for him to be pardoned. He also met Agca's mother after a general audience at St. Peter's Square.
[May 13 is the anniversary of the first apparition ot the Virgin in Fatima, so John Paul II always believed his life was saved by Our Lady.]
Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. The photo-archive I was able to access right away does not have the best originals, and some thumbnails do not respond to enlargement.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/10/2008 00:44]