Attempted murder against late Pope John Paul II 'was backed by Vatican,' says assassin

In a recent interview with the Turkish state television, Mehmet Ali Agca who murdered left-wing journalist of Turkish daily Milliyet Abdi Ipekci on February 1, 1979, and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, confessed that the assassination attempt against late Pope was backed by Vatican.

"The assassination attempt was plotted by Vatican authorities," Agca said. "It was the desire of Vatican's Prime Minister Cardinal Agostino Vallini, one of the people standing close to the Pope. And the operation was plotted by Vatican's Investigative authority representative Padre Micele," Agca said.

"I was given a task to wound the Pope, without killing him. They told me not to point the gun at the Pope's head or heart. I was asked to shoot in the abdomen. I could have fled after the murder attempt but I didn't because the arrest was part of the plan," Agca said, adding that the Vatican authorities offered him from about $50,000 thousand US dollars for the deal.

After 30 years in prison, Mehmet Ali Agca has been released this year. Having served a 20-year term in Italy, he was moved to a Turkish prison to serve a sentence for a crime committed earlier.