The perpetrator of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, the Turk Mehmet Ali Agca, was supposed to leave the Turkish city of Iznik, where Pope Leo XIV is expected to arrive for a visit today, Agence France-Presse reported, citing publications in Turkish publications.
Mehmet Ali Agca hoped to meet the new pope and talk to him for two or three minutes, as he himself told local media. But Agca was escorted out of the city by local police before the Pope arrived.
In May 1981, the Turk shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, seriously wounding the pontiff. Agca was sentenced to life in prison in Italy, but it was ultimately decided that he would serve the remainder of his sentence in Turkey. There, after 29 years behind bars, he was released in January 2010.
In 1983, Mehmet Ali Agca was visited in prison by Pope John Paul II, who forgave him for the assassination attempt. The Turk repented for his actions, but never clarified his motives.
Yesterday, he told Turkish media that he had wanted to "welcome" Pope Leo XIV in Iznik.
Leo XIV is on his first apostolic visit since he was elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church in May. Tomorrow afternoon he will visit the ancient city of Nicaea, about 200 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, where he will mark 1,700 years since the First Ecumenical Council, held there and considered a founding meeting for Christianity.
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