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?