Extraordinary....
I remember that. What a great man he was.
Yeah he was lucky to survive. Mehmet Ali Agca was also lucky he survived. If he hadn’t he would have never left that prison alive. I really was unaware that he had been released at the request of the Pope, or I had forgotten. I think I just never heard it though.
John Paul II (wh was a great man) forgave his would-be killer, but did Agcachange his mind snd repent? Hardly!
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2006/11/pope_insulted_by_attempted_ass.html
And then some history:
It was big news at the time
Remember it well. From what i remember the Russians hired a muslim to do the job.
I actually saw him in October, 1979 at Madison Square Garden when he came to America soon after being announced Pope. They gave all the Catholic HS in the archdiocese tickets for the students to attend- i was a student at JFK HS. I went with two buddies for a day in NYC and seeing JP II was incredible beyond all my expectations. We snuck downstairs and we were right there when they put the little girl on the top of his truck. Her father was NYPD and had died a few month earlier. Her father served with my dad, who was NYPD for 23 years. We were all over the news that night and in the papers the next day.
Ironically i was in St Pats Cathedral with my young daughter when he finally passed on. Still have his obituary card hanging right here near my desk- a great man i always admired.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/pope-john-paul-ii-at-msg-36-years-later/
I was blessed to be able to see JPII twice: Once when I was part of an AF security detail when he made a stop on Guam—I was only a few feet from him— and the second time a few years later when he celebrated a Mass at Dodger Stadium. The man absolutely glowed with holiness.
It’s all true. Pope St. John Paul II inspired untold conversions in his lifetime. One of the greatest men of our, or any, time.