The moment that shocked the world; photo - EPAPolish Radio has interviewed a witness to the shots that rang out in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican 30 years ago, on 13 May 1981, during an assassination attempt that shocked the world.
Brother Kamil, born Franciszek Kipiel, was an official member of the Vatican's medical entourage. He was standing with the team on St. Peter's Square on that sunny May morning, as the pontiff was driven through ecstatic crowds in his open-topped Popemobile.
“At a certain moment I heard shots,” Brother Kamil recounts.
For an instant, the medic thought that the sounds were some kind of “strange” form of greeting for the pontiff. It soon proved otherwise.
“The Pope seemed to freeze for a moment,” Brother Kamil recalls, “his face frozen in the grimace of a smile.
“He turned around, attempting to hold onto the railings, but in all probability he hadn't the strength.”
The Pope began to fall slowly to the floor of the vehicle.
“Father Dziwisz [aide to JP II and now archbishop of Krakow] managed to catch him in his arms and hold on to him,” Brother Kamil continues.
As soon became clear, the Pope had been struck by four bullets.
Brother Kamil leapt onto the bumper of the vehicle, and the Pope was whisked to the Vatican clinic, where the pontiff was transferred to an ambulance.
“The ambulance drove at great speed, without a police escort,” Brother Kamil remembers.
It transpired that the siren was not working, and the driver had to repeatedly honk the horn so as to warn passers-by.
Brother Kamil divulges that on arriving at the hospital, last rites were given.
“We went by lift to the ninth floor, the operating theatre,” he says.
“ It was decided that the Holy Father would be operated on immediately. Father Dziwisz administered last rites to the Pope.”
Then they all left the room.
“No cardinal or bishop was allowed to enter the operating theatre,” he underlines.
Conspiracy?
In the thirty years since the attempt on the life of John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square, theories, counter theories and conspiracies have flourished as to who was behind the assassination attempt.
The assailant, a Turkish assassin named Mehmet Ali Agca, was immediately apprehended.
The Bulgarian Secret Services were initially implicated, but the case fell apart.
This week, a new book by judge Ferdinando Imposimato and journalist Sandro Provvisionato was released in Italy.
Attack on the Pope revives the accusations of Soviet intrigue, saying that plans to kill Lech Walesa on his trip to Italy in January 1981 had also been hatched.
“The KGB took the decision to physically eliminate its two greatest opponents, Lech Walesa and John Paul II,” the authors insist.
However, no conclusive proof has ever been revealed, likewise regarding claims that Muslim extremists were behind the attack.
Pope John Paul II visited his assailant in prison and privately and publicly forgave his would-be murderer. (nh/pg)