On this day in history, May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II survives assassination attempt

Pope John Paul II was shot and nearly killed on this day in history, May 13, 1981. During his regularly scheduled Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square, the pope was shot by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca. Ali Ağca fired a total of four times. Two bullets hit Pope John Paul II in the abdomen and left hand, and the pontiff immediately collapsed, according to the History Channel.

Ali Ağca's motives for the shooting remain murky at best. On the day of the attempted assassination, Ali Ağca had a handwritten note in his pocket reading, 'I am killing the pope as a protest against the imperialism of the Soviet Union and the United States and against the genocide that is being carried out in Salvador and Afghanistan,' said the History Channel. He later claimed to have been part of a KGB plot, reported the Associated Press.

Ali Ağca was released from a Turkish prison in 2010, that outlet noted. John Paul II credited the Virgin Mary for saving his life, as he was shot on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, said the National Catholic Register. In a visit to the Shrine of Fatima in Fatima, Portugal, on the first anniversary of the shooting, Pope John Paul II thanked Our Lady for sparing his life, and offered the bullet that nearly killed him as a gesture of thanks.

The bullet found the perfect fit in the empty space left in 1942 at the union of the eight stems that make up the Queen’s crown,' that outlet also said. After his brush with death on May 13, 1981, John Paul II went on to serve nearly 24 more years as pope before dying from complications related to the flu on April 2, 2005.

He was then canonized, or officially declared a saint in the Catholic Church, by Pope Francis, along with his predecessor Pope John XIII, on April 27, 2014. For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

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