ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Dynasty's Flamboyant Finale - DAY BEFORE:
The Return Of 'The Scream' - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Duran Duran's James Bond Banger - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Jerry Lewis vs The Holocaust
ON THIS DAY
The Man Who Shot The Pope
Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square on 13th May 1981, in front of thousands of pilgrims attending his weekly general audience. Struck multiple times at close range, he collapsed in his Fiat Popemobile, as panic swept through the square.
The gunman was Mehmet Ali Ağca, a 23-year-old Turkish national with a history of political violence (an accomplice was reportedly meant to have triggered an explosion to aid his escape, but this plan failed). Ağca was immediately overpowered by bystanders, including security personnel and a nun, while the Pope was rushed to hospital, where he underwent hours of emergency surgery after life-threatening internal injuries and massive blood loss.
Prior to the attack, Ağca had escaped from prison in Turkey, where he had been convicted of murdering journalist Abdi İpekçi. He left behind threats explicitly targeting the Pope, yet after his arrest offered shifting and often conflicting explanations for his actions – variously blaming Western imperialism, the Soviet Union, or other global actors.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the likelihood the attack was ordered by an extremist group such as the Grey Wolves; marvel at the Pope’s response, including visiting Ağca in prison and persuading the Italian President to pardon him; and explain how the date of the attempted assasination coinciding with the earlier Our Lady of Fátima apparitions added a divine dimension to the story…
Further Reading:
• ‘May 13, 1981: Pope John Paul II shot in St. Peter’s square’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-this-day-may-13-1981-pope-john-paul-ii-shot-in-st-peters-square/
• ‘Mehmet Ali Ağca, The Man Who Tried To Kill Pope John Paul II’ (All That’s Interesting, 2026): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mehmet-ali-agca
• ‘On this day: Pope John Paul II shot outside the Vatican’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JPN4Qh7gs
#Catholic #80s #Shocking #ColdWar
ON THIS DAY
The Man Who Shot The Pope
Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square on 13th May 1981, in front of thousands of pilgrims attending his weekly general audience. Struck multiple times at close range, he collapsed in his Fiat Popemobile, as panic swept through the square.
The gunman was Mehmet Ali Ağca, a 23-year-old Turkish national with a history of political violence (an accomplice was reportedly meant to have triggered an explosion to aid his escape, but this plan failed). Ağca was immediately overpowered by bystanders, including security personnel and a nun, while the Pope was rushed to hospital, where he underwent hours of emergency surgery after life-threatening internal injuries and massive blood loss.
Prior to the attack, Ağca had escaped from prison in Turkey, where he had been convicted of murdering journalist Abdi İpekçi. He left behind threats explicitly targeting the Pope, yet after his arrest offered shifting and often conflicting explanations for his actions – variously blaming Western imperialism, the Soviet Union, or other global actors.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the likelihood the attack was ordered by an extremist group such as the Grey Wolves; marvel at the Pope’s response, including visiting Ağca in prison and persuading the Italian President to pardon him; and explain how the date of the attempted assasination coinciding with the earlier Our Lady of Fátima apparitions added a divine dimension to the story…
Further Reading:
• ‘May 13, 1981: Pope John Paul II shot in St. Peter’s square’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-this-day-may-13-1981-pope-john-paul-ii-shot-in-st-peters-square/
• ‘Mehmet Ali Ağca, The Man Who Tried To Kill Pope John Paul II’ (All That’s Interesting, 2026): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mehmet-ali-agca
• ‘On this day: Pope John Paul II shot outside the Vatican’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JPN4Qh7gs
#Catholic #80s #Shocking #ColdWar
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Dynasty's Flamboyant Finale - DAY BEFORE:
The Return Of 'The Scream' - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Duran Duran's James Bond Banger - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
Jerry Lewis vs The Holocaust
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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