{"id":2642,"date":"2022-05-14T23:01:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T21:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/?p=2642"},"modified":"2022-05-14T23:01:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T21:01:37","slug":"why-did-they-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did they do it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the English weekly magazines \u201cTime\u201d and \u201cNewsweek\u201d, in the issues of 25 May 1981, we find extensive reports on the assassination attempt on John Paul II, which took place during the Wednesday audience on 13 May, forty-one years ago. The editors gathered the accounts of witnesses, analysed the course of the event and provided their texts with meaningful photographs and valuable commentaries. “Time\u201d entitled its text \u201cHand of the Terroris. A Pope of Peace Falls Victim to a Vengeful Gunman\u201d, while \u201cNewsweek\u201d gave the title: \u201cAgain, the Shadow of a Gunman\u201d. Looking through these accounts we learn many details of the assassination attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Wednesday, 13 May 1981<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

On that day, the audience began three minutes before 5 p.m. It was sunny day, the temperature was 19 \u00b0C. The car carrying the Pope was completing the second lap of St Peter\u2019s Square, where about 10,000 pilgrims had gathered. Shots were fired at 5.19 p.m., near the colonnade. John Paul II handed over to her parents the little girl with curly blond hair he had been holding in his arms, and held out his hands to greet a woman in a white dress. At that moment shots were fired. Reports state that there were three or four gun shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One pilgrim tells how he saw blood on the papal cassock and the figure of the Holy Father removing himself. Francesco Pasanisi, general inspector of the Vatican police, jumped into the papamobile. He reports:  \u201cThere was a trail of blood, at first small, like a rose flower, but it quickly began to grow\u201d. Pasanisi shouted to the driver, \u201cdrive away, drive away!\u201d supporting the Pope, along with Fr Dziwisz. The policeman\u2019s hands were wet with blood, he feared for the Holy Father\u2019s life. And John Paul II said to him: \u201cthank you, thank you, have courage, courage\u201d. Pasanisi explained to a reporter: \u201cImagine, it was he at this moment telling me to be calm and courageous…\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People remained in the square in front of the basilica sunk in prayer for the pope’s life. At around 6.20 p.m., Fr Justin Rigali from the Secretary of State stepped up to the microphone and gave the first reassuring news from the hospital…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the attack was taking place in Rome, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Secretary of State of the Holy See, had just landed in New York. Having been informed of the event, he did not leave the airport, but took the first plane back to Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other similar details in these reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it dangerous to be too good?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe man who shot Pope John Paul II last week carried terrorism into a new territory of outrage. It seemed to much of the world that he had shattered a taboo that even assassins should observe\u201d, comments the journalist Lance Morrow. The assassination of the peace-preaching pope was beyond people\u2019s comprehension. \u201cIt’s like shooting at God\u201d, the weekly quoted an anonymous pilgrim as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau commented on the attack: \u201cOne must wonder whether our world has become so barbaric that it is incapable of respecting the lives of God\u2019s own messengers of peace\u201d. The journalist recalls the fatal assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the words of George Bernard Show. \u201cIt was hardly the first time it had happened, of course. After a militant Hindu nationalist shot down Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, George Bernard Shaw commented: \u2018It shows how dangerous it is to be too good\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lance Morrow added as well this commentary which is worthy to quote: \u201cEvery terrorist dreams of squeezing just the right nerve in the neck of civilization, of getting the \u2018sweet spot\u2019, of hitting it big, [\u2026]. Agca appeared also to be what Joseph Conrad called one of those \u2018unwholesome looking little moral agents of destruction\u2019 that now form a recognizable tribe: odd human blanks with politics one centimeter deep and no Dostoyevskian depths at all; well-dressed young men who move around the democratic world on jet planes with forged passports, flipping through small-arms catalogues. That tribe seems to be getting denser and more dangerous. Or at least that is what Agca last week wanted the world to think\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weekly newspapers \u201cTime\u201d and  \u201cNewsweek\u201d often ask the question that John Paul II also repeated on his way to the hospital: \u201cWhy did they do it?\u201d Today we know much more about the causes of the assassination attempt than was known at the time. We know about some aspects, thanks to publications such as \u201cAgca was not alone. Around the participation of the communist special services in the assassination attempt on John Paul II\u201d, which is a compilation of the results of the investigation conducted by the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland. However, we do not know everything. Will the full truth about the assassination attempt ever be unveiled and presented?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrzej Dobrzy\u0144ski<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Press reports on the assassination attempt on the Pope<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy did they do it? - Center for Documentation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why did they do it? - Center for Documentation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Press reports on the assassination attempt on the Pope\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Documentation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1542\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"876\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"juliasercanka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"juliasercanka\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"juliasercanka\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6110109e80abb51f6fac4824777eabfe\"},\"headline\":\"Why did they do it?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\"},\"wordCount\":817,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna - najnowsze\",\"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna - slider\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\",\"name\":\"Why did they do it? - Center for Documentation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg\",\"width\":1542,\"height\":876},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why did they do it?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Documentation\",\"description\":\"and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Center for Documentation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/logo.png\",\"width\":115,\"height\":115,\"caption\":\"Center for Documentation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6110109e80abb51f6fac4824777eabfe\",\"name\":\"juliasercanka\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/266a66e864556e22d55d61b6b10c97fab9060767b738564bcd109f3997e372bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/266a66e864556e22d55d61b6b10c97fab9060767b738564bcd109f3997e372bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"juliasercanka\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/author\/juliasercanka\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why did they do it? - Center for Documentation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why did they do it? - Center for Documentation","og_description":"Press reports on the assassination attempt on the Pope","og_url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/","og_site_name":"Center for Documentation","article_published_time":"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1542,"height":876,"url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"juliasercanka","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"juliasercanka","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/"},"author":{"name":"juliasercanka","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6110109e80abb51f6fac4824777eabfe"},"headline":"Why did they do it?","datePublished":"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/"},"wordCount":817,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg","articleSection":["Articles","Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna - najnowsze","Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna - slider"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/","url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/","name":"Why did they do it? - Center for Documentation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-14T21:01:36+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-14T21:01:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/zamach.jpg","width":1542,"height":876},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/2022\/05\/14\/why-did-they-do-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why did they do it?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/","name":"Center for Documentation","description":"and Research of the Pontificate of John Paul II in Rome","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#organization","name":"Center for Documentation","url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/03\/logo.png","width":115,"height":115,"caption":"Center for Documentation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6110109e80abb51f6fac4824777eabfe","name":"juliasercanka","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/266a66e864556e22d55d61b6b10c97fab9060767b738564bcd109f3997e372bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/266a66e864556e22d55d61b6b10c97fab9060767b738564bcd109f3997e372bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"juliasercanka"},"url":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/author\/juliasercanka\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2644,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions\/2644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}