Some of you who are as ancient as I am will remember the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981. The gunman Mehmet Ali Agca was Turkish, and he was almost successful, wounding the pontiff. The reasons for the assault were unclear. Agca first claimed to have acted alone, then that he was part of a conspiracy. He later maintained that he was a messiah, a sign of mental health issues. After his recovery John Paul visited his assailant in prison, offering forgiveness and shaking his hand.
You may have heard that Mehmet Ali Agca visited Pope John Paul's grave recently, on the thirty-first anniversary of his meeting with the pople. He laid white flowers at the tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica, The visit surprised everyone but a Vatican spokesman said there are no legal matters pending against Agca in the Vatican and he was free to visit.
We never know how forgiveness will be received and what the lasting affects might be.
Thoughts?
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