An attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II occurred on May 13, 1981. Mehmet Ali Ağca shot and seriously wounded the Pope in Rome's St. Peter's Square. Ağca was convicted for this crime in July 1981, and was deported to Turkey in 2000, after serving 19 years imprisonment. Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II or Pope John Paul II (The Great) (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   [] (May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Poland... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year (134th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Mehmet Ali AÄŸca (born January 9, 1958) is a Turkish assassin, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Berninis piazza was extended by the Via della Conciliazione, Mussolinis grand avenue of approach. ...

Attempted assassination of the Pope

Beginning in August 1980 Ağca began criss-crossing the Mediterranean region, changing passports and identities, perhaps to hide his point of origin in Sofia, Bulgaria. He entered Rome on May 10, 1981, coming by train from Milan. May 10 is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

According to Ağca's later testimony, he met with three accomplices in Rome, one a fellow Turk and two Bulgarians, with operation being commanded by Zilo Vassilev, the Bulgarian military attaché in Italy. He said that he was assigned this mission by Turkish mafioso Bechir Celenk in Bulgaria. Le Monde diplomatique, however, has alleged that the assassination attempt was organized by Abdullah Çatlı "in exchange for the sum of 3 million marks", paid by Bechir Celenk to the Grey Wolves.^[1] A military attaché is a military expert who is part of a diplomatic mission. ... Le Monde diplomatique (nicknamed Le Diplo by its French readers) is a monthly publication offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. ... Abdullah Çatlı (1956—November 3, 1996) was a Turkish ultra-nationalist activist, who became in 1978 the second responsible, after colonel Alparslan TürkeÅŸ, of the Grey Wolves, a movement of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party(Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi-MHP).[1] Member of Gladio stay-behind NATO clandestine network...

According to Ağca, the plan was for him and the back-up gunman Oral Çelik to open fire in St. Peter's Square and escape to the Bulgarian embassy under the cover of the panic generated by a small explosion. On May 13 they sat in the square, writing postcards waiting for the Pope to arrive. When the Pope passed, Ağca fired several shots and critically wounded him, but was grabbed by spectators and prevented from finishing the assassination or escaping. Four bullets hit John Paul II, two of them lodging in his lower intestine, the others hitting his left hand and right arm. Two bystanders were also hit. Çelik panicked and fled without setting off his bomb or opening fire. Berninis piazza was extended by the Via della Conciliazione, Mussolinis grand avenue of approach. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year (134th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Prison time, release, and rearrest

Ağca was sentenced, in July 1981, to life imprisonment in Italy for the assassination attempt, but was pardoned by president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000 at the Pope's request. He was then extradited to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for the 1979 murder of left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi and two bank raids carried out in the 1970s. Despite a plea for early release in November 2004, a Turkish court announced that he would not be eligible for release until 2010. Nonetheless, he was released on parole on January 12, 2006.^[2][3] However, on January 20, 2006, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled that his time served in Italy could not be deducted from his Turkish sentence and he was returned to jail. ^[2] Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, nominally for the entire remaining life of the prisoner, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually seven years) a prisoner may be incarcerated, or require the... Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (born 9 December 1920 in Livorno) is an Italian politician and banker who has been both Prime Minister of Italy and President of the Italian Republic. ... Abdi Ä°pekçi was the editor-in-chief of the major Turkish national newspaper Milliyet. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Relationship with Pope John Paul

Following the shooting, Pope John Paul II asked people to "pray for my brother (Ağca), whom I have sincerely forgiven." In 1983, he and Ağca met and spoke privately at the prison where Ağca was being held. The Pope was also in touch with Ağca's family over the years, meeting his mother in 1987 and his brother a decade later.

Although Ağca had been quoted as saying that "to me [the Pope] was the incarnation of all that is capitalism", and attempting to murder him, Ağca developed a friendship with the pontiff. In early February 2005, during the Pope's illness, Ağca sent a letter to the Pope wishing him well and also warning him that the world would end soon.

Motivations for the assassination attempt

Several theories exist concerning Mehmet Ali Agca's assassination attempt. One, strongly advocated since the early 1980s by Michael Ledeen among others, is that the assassination attempt had originated from Moscow and that the KGB instructed the Bulgarian and East German secret services to carry out the mission. The Bulgarian Secret Service was allegedly instructed by the KGB to assassinate the Pope because of his support of Poland's Solidarity movement, seeing it as one of the most significant threats to Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe. Michael Ledeen (born August 1, 1941) is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. ... Note: This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ... Solidarity (Polish: ; full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity — Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność) is a Polish trade union federation founded in September 1980 at the then Lenin Shipyards, and originally led by Lech Wałęsa. ...

Ağca himself has given multiple conflicting statements on the assassination at different times. Attorney Antonio Marini stated: "Ağca has manipulated all of us, telling hundreds of lies, continually changing versions, forcing us to open tens of different investigations".^[4] Originally Ağca claimed to be a member of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), but they denied any ties to him. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

The "Bulgarian Connection"

Then KGB Director Yuri Andropov, was convinced that the Pope John Paul II’s election was the product of an Anglo-German conspiracy orchestrated by Zbigniew Brzezinski to undermine Soviet hegemony in largely Catholic Poland and ultimately to precipitate the collapse of the entire Soviet Union. The Pope’s announcement of a pilgrimage to Warsaw fueled Andropov’s apprehension, with Andropov issuing a secret memorandum to Soviet schoolteachers: ^[5] Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (Russian: Ю́рий Влади́мирович Андро́пов; 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1914 – February 9, 1984) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU from November 12, 1982 until his death just sixteen months later. ... Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (born March 28, 1928, Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman. ...

The Pope is our enemy. . . . Due to his uncommon skills and great sense of humor he is dangerous, because he charms everyone, especially journalists. Besides, he goes for cheap gestures in his relations with the crowd, for instance, [he] puts on a highlander’s hat, shakes all hands, kisses children, etc. . . . It is modeled on American presidential campaigns. . . . Because of the activities of the Church in Poland our activities designed to atheize the youth not only cannot diminish but must intensely develop. . . . In this respect all means are allowed and we cannot afford sentiments.^[5]

Ali Agca had made several trips to Sofia, Bulgaria, and stayed in a hotel favored by the Bulgarian (DS). In Rome he had also had contacts with a Bulgarian agent whose cover was the Bulgarian national airline office. Soon after the shooting, Sergei Antonov, a Bulgarian working in Rome for Balkan Air, was arrested based on Ağca's testimony and accused of being the Bulgarian agent who masterminded the plot. In 1986, after a three-year trial, he was found not guilty. ^[6] According to Paul Henze (1985), he later stated that in Sofia, he was once approached by the Bulgarian Secret Service and Turkish mafiosi, who offered him three million German mark to assassinate the Pope. ^[6] Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Coordinates: Country Bulgaria Province Sofia-City Government  - Mayor Boyko Borisov Area  - City 1,349 km²  (520. ... ISO 4217 Code DEM User(s) Germany, Montenegro, Kosovo ERM Since 13 March 1979 Fixed rate since 31 December 1998 Replaced by €, non cash 1 January 1999 Replaced by €, cash 1 January 2002 € = 1. ...

Columnist Eric Margolis commented that Ağca was an ideal candidate, because while Ağca appeared to be a Turkish neo-fascist he was really being run by KGB via its Bulgarian subordinates, in a classic false flag operation. ^[7] The Bulgarians chose Ağca to supply themselves with plausible deniability; choosing a member of the Grey Wolves that had been involved with the local KGB in drug smuggling routes through Bulgaria to Western Europe would distance themselves because of the implausibility of the link. ^[8] Eric Margolis is a journalist born in New York City and holding degrees from Georgetown and New York Universities. ... False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. ... Plausible deniability also Deniability is the term given to the creation of loose and informal chains of command in government, which allow controversial instructions given by high-ranking officials to be denied if they become public. ... Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar in Turkish) is the youth organization of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP), an ultra-nationalist[1] movement founded by Alparslan TürkeÅŸ in 1969. ...

The Bulgarian secret services have always protested their alleged involvement and argued that Ağca's story was an anti-Communist plant placed by the Italian secret service (SISMI), and the CIA^[9] Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (Military Intelligence and Security Service, SISMI) is the military intelligence agency of Italy. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...

According to Ferdinando Imposimato, an Italian prosecutor in charge of the assassination investigation, Ağca has confirmed the KGB and the Bulgarian involvement during their many private conversations in 1997-2000, tying it to the mysterious 1998 murder of Colonel Alois Estermann, a Swiss Guard. Ferdinando Imposimato has alleged a link with the East German secret service. Ferdinando Imposimato - an Italian prosecutor, in charge of investigation of Mehmet Ali AÄŸca assassination of Pope John Paul II. External links Intelligence Watch By John C.K. Daly in The Washington Times Pins Shooting of Pope on KGB in Accuracy in Media smearing of Romano Prodi in The Economist... The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries adopting the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. ... Papal Swiss Guards in traditional uniforms Swiss Guards are Swiss mercenary soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day (in the form of the Papal Swiss Guard). ...

The Mitrokhin Commission's claims

Further information: Italian Mitrokhin Commission

According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, documents recovered from former East German intelligence services confirm the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II was ordered by the Soviet KGB and assigned to Bulgarian and East German agents with the Stasi to coordinate the operation and cover up the traces afterwards, however, Markus Wolf, former Stasi spymaster, has denied any links, and claimed the files had already been sent in 1995 .^[10] The Italian Mitrokhin Commission was a parliamentary commission set up in 2002 by the Italian Parliament, then led by Silvio Berlusconis right-wing coalition, the Casa delle Libertà, and presided by senator Paolo Guzzanti (Forza Italia). ... Corriere della Sera (Evening Mail) is the most important Italian daily newspapers (first in sales [1]), printed in Milan. ... Logo of East Germanys Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS or Stasi) / Ministry for State Security This article is about Stasi, the secret police of East Germany. ... Markus Wolf. ...

In March 2006, the controversed Mitrokhin Commission, set up by Silvio Berlusconi and headed by Forza Italia senator Paolo Guzzanti, supported once again the Bulgarian theory, which had been denounced by John Paul II during his travel to Bulgaria. Senator Guzzanti claimed that "leaders of the former Soviet Union were behind the assassination attempt", alleging that "the leadership of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate Pope John Paul" because of his support for Solidarity, relaying "this decision to the military secret services" (and not the KGB).^[11] The report's claims were based on recent computer analysis of photographs that purported to demonstrate Antonov's presence in St Peter's Square during the shooting and on information brought by the French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, a controversed figure whose last feat was to indict Rwandese president Paul Kagame, claiming he had deliberately provoked the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against his own ethnic group in order to take the power ^[12]. According to Le Figaro, Bruguière, who is in close contacts as well with Moscow as with Washington DC, including intelligence agents, has been accused by many of his colleagues of "privileging the reason of state over law." ^[13] The Italian Mitrokhin Commission was a parliamentary commission set up in 2002 by the Italian Parliament, then led by Silvio Berlusconis right-wing coalition, the Casa delle Libertà, and presided by senator Paolo Guzzanti (Forza Italia). ...   (born September 29, 1936) is an Italian politician, entrepreneur, and media proprietor. ... Forza Italia (Forward Italy) is an Italian party. ... Paolo Guzzanti (August 1, 1940) is an Italian journalist and politician. ... Solidarity (Polish: ; full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity — Niezależny SamorzÄ…dny ZwiÄ…zek Zawodowy Solidarność) is a Polish trade union federation founded in September 1980 at the then Lenin Shipyards, and originally led by Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa. ... Jean-Louis Bruguière is a French judge. ... Paul Kagame (born October 23, 1957) is the current President of Rwanda and the founder of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. ... Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War. ... The Reason of State (Italian: Della Ragion di Stato) is a work of political philosophy by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Botero. ...

Both Russia and Bulgaria condemned the report. ""For Bulgaria, this case closed with the court decision in Rome in March 1986," Foreign Ministry spokesman Dimitar Tsanchev said, while also recalling the Pope's comments during his May 2002 visit to Bulgaria.^[14] Senator Guzzanti said that the commission had decided to re-open the report's chapter on the assassination attempt in 2005, after the Pope wrote about it in his last book, Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums. The Pope wrote that he was convinced the shooting was not Ağca's initiative and that "someone else masterminded it and someone else commissioned it". The Mitrokhin Commission also claimed current Prime minister of Italy, Romano Prodi, was the "KGB's man in Italy". At the end of December 2006, Mario Scaramella, one of the main informer of senator Guzzanti, was arrested and charged, among other things, of defamation. Rome's prosecutor Pietro Salvitti, in charge of the investigations concerning Mario Scaramella, cited by La Repubblica, showed that Nicolò Pollari, head of SISMI, the Italian military intelligence agency and indicted in the Imam Rapito affair, as well as SISMI n°2, Marco Mancini, arrested in July 2006 for the same reason, were some of the informers, alongside Mario Scaramella, of senator Paolo Guzzanti. Beside targeting Romano Prodi and his staff, this "network", according to Pietro Salvitti's words, also aimed at defaming General Giuseppe Cucchi (current director of the Cesis), Milan's judges Armando Spataro, in charge of the Imam Rapito case, and Guido Salvini, as well as La Reppublica reporters Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe D'Avanzo, who discovered the Yellowcake forgery affair ^[15]. The investigation also showed a connection between Scaramella and the CIA, in particular through Filippo Marino, one of Scaramella's closest partners since the 1990s and co-founder of the ECPP, who lives today in the US. Marino has acknowledged in an interview an association with former and active CIA officers, including Robert Lady, former CIA station chief in Milan, indicted by prosecutor Armando Spataro for having coordinated the abduction of Abu Omar, the Imam Rapito ^[16].   (born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician. ... Mario Scaramella in an Italian lawyer and security consultant who came to international prominence in connection to the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning. ... La Repubblica (meaning: The Republic) is an Italian daily newspaper. ... General Nicolò Pollari, (b. ... Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (Military Intelligence and Security Service, SISMI) is the military intelligence agency of Italy. ... Immage from the CIAs surveillance of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr recovered during investigations by the prosecuting authority of Milan [1] The Abu Omar Case (or Imam Rapito affair - Kidnapped Imam affair) refers to the abduction and transfer in Egypt of the Imam of Milan Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also... Marco Mancini is a senior official in Sismi, the military intelligence agency of Italy. ... The town of Cēsis, in Latvia, is located in the northern part of Vidzeme Central upland, on the river Gauja, on high hillocks with terraces, overlooking the blue woods of the Gauja ancient river valley. ... The term Yellowcake Forgery refers to falsified classified documents initially uncovered by Italian intelligence which possibly depicted an attempt by Iraqs Saddam Hussein regime to purchase yellowcake uranium from the country of Niger, in defiance of United Nations sanctions. ... Immage from the CIAs surveillance of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr recovered during investigations by the prosecuting authority of Milan [1] The Abu Omar Case (or Imam Rapito affair - Kidnapped Imam affair) refers to the abduction and transfer in Egypt of the Imam of Milan Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also...

Other theories

Some people, notably Edward S. Herman, co-author with Frank Brodhead of The Rise and Fall of the Bulgarian Connection (1986), and Michael Parenti, felt Ağca's story was dubious, noting that Ağca made no claims of Bulgarian involvement until he had been isolated in solitary confinement and visited by Italian Military Intelligence (SISMI) agents. On September 25, 1991, former CIA analyst Melvin A. Goodman (now Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy) revealed that his colleagues, following hierarchical orders, had falsified their analysis in order to support the accusation. He declared to the US Senate intelligence committee that "the CIA hadn't any proof" concerning this alleged "Bulgarian connection" ^[1] Edward S. Herman is an economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. ... Michael Parenti (born 1933) is an American political scientist, historian, and media critic. ... Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (Military Intelligence and Security Service, SISMI) is the military intelligence agency of Italy. ... September 25 is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... The Center for International Policy, located in Washington DC, was founded in 1975 by diplomats and former peace activists in the wake of the Vietnam War. ...

The Bulgarian secret services have always protested their alleged involvement and argued that Ağca's story was an anti-Communist plant placed by the Grey Wolves, the Italian secret service, and the CIA - all three of whom had cooperated in NATO's secret Gladio network ^[17]. Gladio was at the time involved in Italy's strategy of tension, also followed in Turkey by Counter-Guerrilla, the Turkish branch of Gladio. The Pope's assassination would hereafter have taken place in this frame. Edward Herman has argued that Michael Ledeen, who was involved in the Iran-Contra Affair and had alleged ties to the Italian P2 masonic lodge also linked to Gladio, was employed by the CIA to propagate the Bulgarian theory ^[18]. Indeed, the Monde diplomatique alleged that Abdullah Çatlı, a leader of the Grey Wolves, had organized the assassination attempt "in exchange for the sum of 3 million German Marks" for the Grey Wolves ^[19]. In Rome, Catli declared to the judge in 1985 "that he had been contacted by the BND, the German intelligence agency, which would have promised him a nice sum of money if he implicated the Russian and Bulgarian services in the assassination attempt against the Pope". According to colonel Alparslan Türkes, the founder of the Grey Wolves, "Catli has cooperated in the frame of a secret service working for the good of the state" ^[1]. Anti-communism is opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either a theoretical or practical level. ... Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar in Turkish) is the youth organization of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP), an ultra-nationalist[1] movement founded by Alparslan TürkeÅŸ in 1969. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Operation Gladio Operation Gladio was a clandestine stay-behind operation sponsored by the CIA and NATO to counter communist influence in Italy, as well as in other European countries. ... A strategy of tension (Italian: ) is a way to control and manipulate public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, false flag terrorism actions and even terroristic actions. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Edward S. Herman is an economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. ... Michael Ledeen (born August 1, 1941) is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. ... The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal in the United States during the 1980s. ... P2 is the common name for the Italian Freemasonic lodge Propaganda Due (Italian: Propaganda Two). ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Le Monde diplomatique alongside Le Monde. ... Abdullah Çatlı (1956—November 3, 1996) was a Turkish ultra-nationalist activist, who became in 1978 the second responsible, after colonel Alparslan TürkeÅŸ, of the Grey Wolves, a movement of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party(Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi-MHP).[1] Member of Gladio stay-behind NATO clandestine network... ISO 4217 Code DEM User(s) Germany, Montenegro, Kosovo ERM Since 13 March 1979 Fixed rate since 31 December 1998 Replaced by €, non cash 1 January 1999 Replaced by €, cash 1 January 2002 € = 1. ... The Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service, BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of the German government, under the control of the Bundeskanzleramt (Federal Chancellery). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Another theory, described in the Gordon Thomas's book Gideon’s Spies: Mossad’s Secret Warriors, rejects the KGB, Turkish and Bulgarian connections. According to Thomas, a British specialist on intelligence, the assassination was ordered by Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini as a first act of Jihad, the Muslim holy war, against Christianity and the Occident. This theory is based on the following elements: The Grey Wolves organization was pro-iranian; Mehmet Ali Ağca was trained in Iran; the text of a 1979 letter sent to the press by Mehmet Ali Ağca just after he killed a Turkish journalist used formulas such as "Supreme Commander of the Crusaders" that are directly taken from Khomeini's style, while Ağca is nearly illiterate. The 1983 Pope visit to his agressor in jail was aimed to confirm this theory, just uncovered by the Israeli intelligence agency. Gordon Thomas is a Welsh author who has written fifty-three books. ... Ayatollah Khomeini founded the first modern Islamic republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی in Persian) (May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric and the political... Jihad, sometimes spelled Jahad, Jehad, Jihaad, Jiaad, or Cihad, (Arabic: IPA: ) as an Islamic term, is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it occupies no official status as such in Sunni Islam. ... Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar in Turkish) is the youth organization of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP), an ultra-nationalist[1] movement founded by Alparslan TürkeÅŸ in 1969. ... Mehmet Ali AÄŸca (born January 9, 1958) is a Turkish assassin, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981. ...

A Vatican connection?

On June 26, 2000 Pope John Paul II released the "Third Secret of Fatima"^{[citation needed]} in which he claimed that Ağca's assassination attempt was the fulfillment of this Secret. Some doubt the Church's full disclosure of the contents of this Secret, believing that it actually predicted the Apocalypse. While in prison on remand, Ağca was widely reported to have developed an obsession with Fatima and during the trial claimed that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ and called on the Vatican to release the Third Secret. June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Pope John Paul II or Pope John Paul II (The Great) (Latin: , Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan PaweÅ‚ II) born   [] (May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Poland... From May to October, 1917, three young Portuguese shepherds, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, claimed to have witnessed an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ... Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Fatima may refer to: Fatima (name) a female personal name (see that article for a list of other people with the name) Fatima Zahra, daughter of prophet Muhammad, and wife of Ali, the 1st Imam of Shia Islam. ... The Second Coming refers to the Christian belief in the return of Jesus Christ, an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead, last judgment and full establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (also called the Reign of God), including the... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

On March 31, 2005, just prior to the Pope's death, Ağca gave an interview to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. He claimed to be working on a book about the assassination attempt. La Repubblica quoted Ağca claiming at length that he had accomplices in the Vatican who helped him with the assassination attempt, saying "the devil is inside Vatican's wall". He also said: March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... La Repubblica (meaning: The Republic) is an Italian daily newspaper. ...

"Many calculating politicians are worried about what revealing the complete truth would do. Some of them fear that the Vatican will have a spiritual collapse like the Berlin Wall. Let me ask, why don't the CIA, the Sismi, the Sisde and other intelligence agencies reveal the truth about the Orlandi case?

Q: They say it's because there is still some uncertainty in the Emanuela Orlandi case.

Ağca: In the 1980's, certain Vatican supporters believed that I was the new messiah and to free me they organized all the intrigue about Emanuela Orlandi and the other incidents they won't reveal."^[20]

Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, disappeared at age 15 on June 22, 1983. Anonymous phone calls offered her release in exchange for the release of Ağca. Archbishop Paul Marcinkus was alleged to be part of the kidnapping, although no charges were ever laid. Emanuela Orlandi - Missing since 06/22/1983 Emanuela Orlandi (January 14, 1968 - ?) was born in Vatican City, the daughter of a Vatican employee. ... Emanuela Orlandi - Missing since 06/22/1983 Emanuela Orlandi (January 14, 1968 - ?) was born in Vatican City, the daughter of a Vatican employee. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Paul Casimir Marcinkus was born on January 15, 1922, in Cicero, Illinois. ...

A week after this interview, Associated Press reported Ağca denying having made such claims.^[21] The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

References

Le Monde diplomatique (nicknamed Le Diplo by its French readers) is a monthly publication offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale Security checkpoint at entrance to headquarters parking lot. ... CBC redirects here, as this is the most common use of the abbreviation. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Libération (affectionately known as Libé) is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre, Pierre Victor alias Benny Lévy and Serge July in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. ... Eric Margolis is a journalist born in New York City and holding degrees from Georgetown and New York Universities. ... Arnaud de Borchgrave is a conservative journalist of Flemish extraction who focuses on international politics. ... ETH Zurich (from its German name Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, ETHZ) is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland. ... This article is about the German international broadcaster. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Le Figaro (English: ) is one of the leading French morning daily newspapers. ... Le Figaro (English: ) is one of the leading French morning daily newspapers. ... Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pron. ... La Repubblica (meaning: The Republic) is an Italian daily newspaper. ... The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. ... The ETH Zurich, often called Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is a science and technology university in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. ... Asia Times Online is an Internet-only publication that reports and examines geopolitical, political, economic and business issues, looking at these from an Asian perspective. ... La Repubblica (meaning: The Republic) is an Italian daily newspaper. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (91st in leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ISRO, Publisher of JTW JTW. A Turkish newsource in English language on international politics, Turkey, Middle East, Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ...

See also

• Reagan assassination attempt
• Mehmet Ali Agca