The Assassination Attempt on Pope John II 1982

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Pete

Pete

Mr. Eighties
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Do you remember the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agča? It happened on May 13th 1982 in the Vatican City.

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Pope John II after being shot. Photo by Tullio Saba on Wikimedia

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In 1979 Mehmet Ali Agča the one responsible for the murder of Abdi İpekçi who was a newsman in Instanbul for the Turkish newspaper Milliyet stated that the Pope was basically “the masked leader of the crusades” and threatened to shoot him if he stepped foot inside Turkey. The New York Times reported that. They also reported that Mehmet Ali Agča said that the killing would be in revenge for the attack on the Grand Mosque which is located in Mecca which started on November 29th 1979. He blamed the U.S.A. and Israel.



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I remember when that happened. I was 14 years old. I remember my father screaming and cursing for revenge against the shooter. I’m just happy that the Pope wasn’t fatally wounded.
 
Yes it could’ve ended a lot worse.
 
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