The day Pope John Paul II was shot in St Peter's Square

It has been 44 years today since the Pope fortunately survived the assassination attempt.

On May 13, 1981, four bullets almost changed the story. The Pope survived the attack, forgave his aggressor and spoke of a miracle.

As the world opens a new chapter with the election of Pope Leo XIV, the memory of an act that marked the Church and the planet: the...

By Byron Lucas The assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II was, on Wednesday, May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Mehmet Ali Ağca shot the high pontiff four times as he entered the square. On May 13, 1981, when he [...]

Forty-four years ago, Pope John Paul II was the victim of an assassination attempt that shocked the world. The attack occurred as he greeted the faithful in St. Peter’s Square of the Vatican, when Mehmet Ali Ağca, an extremist of Turkish origin, shot four times at the pontiff. Two of the shells struck his abdomen and the others reached his right arm and left hand. The pope was immediately transferred to Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he underwe…

Many of us remember that fateful May 13, 1981, when St. Peter's Square in the Vatican became the scene of a chilling incident. Pope John Paul II was shot in the middle of a procession, an event that not only deeply impacted the Catholic Church and its faithful, but also radically transformed security measures surrounding the Holy See. From that moment on, public proximity to the Pontiff was drastically reduced, and the iconic "popemobile" became…