Pope John Paul II Assassination Attempt: 7 Shocking 1981 Facts
The Pope John Paul II assassination attempt of May 13, 1981 still ranks as one of the most shocking television moments of the early 80s — a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Rome, the popemobile circling St. Peter’s Square, and then four cracks from a 9mm Browning that nearly ended the most famous papacy of the century. The shooter, 23-year-old Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca, fired at near point-blank range from the crowd and hit the pontiff twice — once in the abdomen and once through the left hand. The Pope lost almost three-quarters of his blood on the ambulance ride to Gemelli Hospital, survived a five-and-a-half-hour surgery, and walked out of that hospital alive 22 days later.
If you were old enough to read a newspaper in 1981, the front-page color photo of John Paul II slumped in the white Fiat Campagnola is probably burned into your retina. We grew up with two assassination images on the wall of the news room: Reagan being shoved into the limo on March 30, and the Pope crumpling 44 days later. Two attempts on two of the most prominent figures in the Western world inside of six weeks. The 80s didn’t ease in — they kicked the door down.
Here are seven things about the Pope John Paul II shooting that still hit hard 45 years later — including the bullet that should have killed him, the gunman the Pope eventually forgave, and the conspiracy theory that has never been fully buried.
1. The Bullet Missed His Heart by Millimeters
