Monday, October 3, 2011

80s Trivia: What was the nationality of the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II?

Like US Presidents, Pope's are not strangers to assassination attempts.  The 1980s saw one major assassination attempt on the Pope John Paul II, the only Pope of the decade.  John Paul II survived an attempt on his life by two men, despite being shot four times, with two bullets lodging in his lower intestines.  From Pocket Trivia: 80s Trivia - What was the nationality of the men who tried to kill Pope John Paul II?  Were they Iraqi, Turkish, Russian or Croatian?

Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt perpetrated by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish national.  He was shot on May 13, 1981 in St. Peters Square.  A crowd grabbed Agca and stopped him from firing anymore shots, though the Pope was critically wounded and required major surgery to survive his wounds, which he ultimately did.  Agca was sentenced to life in prison, though he was pardoned after serving 19 years at the Pope's request.  Agca went back to Turkey where he went right back to jail for the murder of a journalist, a time he was released for in January 2010.

Below is a news report of the assassination attempt from 1981.

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