BLOOD OF THE FATHER
How Pope John Paul II was shot FOUR TIMES by gunman in front of the Vatican – but went on to forgive his would-be killer
HUNDREDS of doting pilgrims packed into the streets of Vatican City on a sunny May afternoon to greet the Pope John Paul II - and then four gunshots rang out.
In the blink of an eye, the smiling pontiff turned pale and collapsed having been struck by four bullets, his life hanging in the balance.
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Cheers from the crowd turned to screams as the open top Popemobile sped away flanked by security, rushing Pontiff to hospital.
John Paul II lost almost three quarters of his blood and underwent five hours of operations - but miraculously survived.
But in an even more astonishing turn, he forgave his attacker and become friends with the assassin, a Turkish terrorist named Mehmet Ali Ağca.
The attempted assassination that shocked the world happened exactly 40 years ago today.
Ağca now lives a quiet life looking after stray cats at his home in Istanbul and has called John Paul his "brother".
But rewinding four decades to May 13, 1981 paints a very different picture of him.
As the Pope entered St Peter's Square, Ağca pulled the trigger, firing multiple times - striking the Pope twice in the stomach, once in his left hand and once in his right arm.
Panic erupted as shots rang out in the holy city shortly after 5.15pm.
Cries of terror and screams could be heard rippling through the streets, with two innocent bystanders also struck in the hail of fire.
The hit was a carefully masterminded plot by Ağca, who had two years earlier described the Pope as "the masked leader of the crusades" and threatened to kill him if a planned trip to Turkey went ahead - which it did.
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Ağca escaped prison after being jailed for murdering journalist Abdi İpekçi in 1979, and in August 1980 began crisscrossing the Mediterranean region - changing his passport and identifies over and over.
The assassin, who was 23 at the time of his attack on the Pope, then met with three accomplices in Rome, having caught the train to the capital from Milan on May 10, 1981 - according to his testimony.
They sat in St Peter's Square writing postcards on May 13, but when Pope John Paul II arrived - standing in the back of an open-air car - Ağca drew out a 9mm Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistol and took aim at the pontiff.
Flanked by security guards, the Pope immediately lost colour in his face and slumped into the arms of his aides, while the sound of bells and cheers turned into screams from thousands of horrified onlookers.
The pontiff - critically injured and suffering severe blood loss - lost consciousness as the driver raced to get him to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic hospital.
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Cops ran behind the Popemobile as his team sheltered him from view with jackets.
Then aged 60, he underwent five hours of surgery after almost three-quarters of his blood drained from his body as a result of his wounds.
Despite this, the Pope miraculously survived.
Ağca attempted to flee the scene and threw his weapon - which he had paid the equivalent of £10,000 to a man on the streets of Vienna for - under a lorry.
But he was caught by a nun, security chief and other bystanders who held him until he was arrested.
One of his accomplices, Oral Çelik, had lost his nerve and made off without setting off his bomb or opening fire - scuppering their original plan to escape to the Bulgarian embassy amid the chaos.
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Ağca was sentenced to life in prison that June for the assassination attempt.
But while most would be glad to see their would-be killer locked up, the Pope took a different stance and instead went on to forge an unlikely friendship with the convict.
Shortly after the shooting, the Pope told people to "pray for my brother (Ağca), whom I have sincerely forgiven";.
Then, two years after the attempted assassination sent shockwaves across the world, the pontiff visited Ağca in Rome's Rebibbia Prison.
The pair were pictured speaking for around 22 minutes, with Ağca reportedly kissing the Pope's ring at the end of their dialogue.
After, John Paul II said: "What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me.
"I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust."
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Almost 20 years after he was jailed, Ağca was pardoned by the then-Italian president in June 2000, at the request of the Pope, and deported to Turkey.
Once back in his native country, Ağca was put straight back behind bars to serve the rest of the sentence he had fled two decades prior.
The Pope remained in touch with both Ağca and his family, and when he fell ill in 2005, Ağca sent him a letter of well-wishes.
Pope John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005, with Ağca later saying it "felt like his brother or best friend had died" in an interview with the
Almost three decades after the former terrorist tried to kill the Pope, Ağca was set free from jail.
Prior to his release on January 18, 2010, Ağca had converted to Roman Catholicism.
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In 2014, despite being banned from Italy, he made a clandestine visit the Vatican to lay white roses on John Paul II's tomb.
In the years that have proceeded that sombre day in 1981, numerous theories as to why Ağca plotted to kill the Pope have swirled.
Yet the motive remains a mystery, with allegations and accusations launched at the Bulgarian government, Turkish mafia, CIA, and others.
Four decades on, Ağca has renounced his violent past and had said he is "relieved" the Pope didn't die at his hands.
As of last year, the former killer - now 63 - was living in the suburbs in Istanbul, feeding stray cats and dogs near him home.
"I’m a good man now. I try to live my life properly," he told the Mirror.
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"When I shot him I was 23. I was young and I was ignorant.
“I remember how rational I felt. I fired the gun and then it jammed.
"It was destiny. And it was destiny he survived. I am very glad he didn’t die."
His motive has never been fully explained, but Ağca has since claimed the Soviet Union was behind the assassination attempt, saying "they wanted him dead".
He also said he had an English girlfriend in the months before the assassination bid
Ağca had known he would try and kill the Pope while with her.
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“I already knew I was going to shoot the Pope but I didn’t tell my English girlfriend. It wouldn’t have been fair on her," Ağca said.
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“Her name was Edith. She was very, very beautiful and I had a great time with her.
“She was six or seven years older than me. But she certainly didn’t know her boyfriend was already planning to kill the Pope."
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