Panic, prayers: The day John Paul II was shot
PARIS: Saint Peter’s Square in Rome was packed with 20,000 faithful hoping to catch a glimpse of John Paul II on that fateful May afternoon 40 years ago. Suddenly as his open white Fiat “Popemobile” eased through the crowd, the pontiff collapsed-shot at close range by a far-right Turkish nationalist whose motives remain mysterious to this day.
At 5:41 pm on May 13, 1981 AFP flashed: “Pope John Paul II wounded by two gun shots.” The 60-yearold Karol Wojtyla was immediately rushed to hospital. He was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm. Two women in the Polish-born pope’s entourage were also hurt. Rome was gripped by panic. Paramedics, police and journalists rushed to the scene and to the hospital.
Italian authorities quickly confirmed the shooter — 23-year-old Mehmet Ali Agca-had been arrested and that his weapon was a Browning handgun. His accomplice-another Turk-Oral Celik fled and was arrested a few years later in France for drug trafficking and then extradited to Italy.
Wildly popular
The news set off a frenzy around the world and prayers flooded in for the first-ever Slavic pope. Elected in 1978, the charismatic Jean Paul II had made several international trips that turned into massive media events and proved wildly popular. His insistence on direct contact with the faithful-taking children in his arms and allowing people to touch him-was completely new, but complicated the work of his security team.
The atmosphere at the Vatican that day was “unreal and mind-blowing” according to one AFP journalist. Worried Catholics gathered in St Peter’s Square repeated Vatican Radio prayers blasting out from loudspeakers as police choppers flew low above them.
One woman in the crowd cried out everyone’s worst fear: “The pope is dead.” But the famously tough John Paul II was out of the woods-no vital organ had been affected and he came through the critical surgery lasting nearly six hours.