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March 2, 2006
Italian Commission: Soviet Union Ordered Pope John Paul Shooting
I remember that when Pope John Paul II was shot in St Peter's Square on May 13, 1981 by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, there were rumors almost from the outset that the Soviet Union was behind it. I had just returned from Italy, and although on a business trip, had taken time out to stop by the Vatican and play tourist (and visit the Sistine Chapel), something I've always found myself doing each time I make it to Rome.
Now it appears that the rumors were on target (no pun intended here), and that indeed, beyond any reasonable doubt, the leadership of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate Pope John Paul:
No surprise here, and certainly no surprise that the Bulgarian authorities were a mile short of being truthful - yep, they lied!A final draft of the report, which is due to be presented to parliament later this month, was made available to Reuters on Thursday by the commission president, Senator Paolo Guzzanti.
"This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leadership of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate Pope John Paul," the report said.
"They relayed this decision to the military secret services for them to take on all necessary operations to commit a crime of unique gravity, without parallel in modern times," it said.
The report also says "some elements" of the Bulgarian secret services were involved but that this was an attempt to divert attention away from the Soviet Union's alleged key role.
A 36-page chapter on the assassination attempt was included in a wider report by parliament's Mitrokhin Commission, which probed the revelations of Vasili Mitrokhin, a senior Soviet archivist during the Cold War who defected to Britain in 1992.
Cross posted by Hyscience
Posted by Richard at March 2, 2006 3:18 PM
