[NYer]

From time to time, EWTN Cinema airs the following program. It is outstanding!

This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religious and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Stars Piotr Adamczyk, Raoul Bova, and Michele Placido. Also includes a 16 page booklet by Carl Olson with study questions, a biography of Pope John Paul II, and a resource list. 1 DVD. 3 hrs. 3 mins.

[annalex]

radical Islam detested the Pope, and saw in him a leader of crusades

Since the Crusades we had about a hundred popes, but the one to suffer the assasination attempt just coincidentally also bothered the international Left.

It is possible that Gen. Jaruzelski indeed believes that theory, but he better have something more convincing than "Zhivkov said so". It would be natural for the KGB to keep the religious Poles in the dark and use a Bulgarian ruse. Agca is a classic manipulated killer, and we may never know who manipulated him, but to suspect a retaliation for the Crusades is just silly. The fact that Agca is alive points to the high probability that he himself does not know who planted that thought in him. But he just doesn't look like an Islamic crazy.