May 13,1992. Geraldo Rivera’s Now It Can Be Told brings us the facts on a 1981 shooting: the head of the Catholic Church.
“The pistol shots that strike down the pope, are fired at a distance of less than six feet. The jeep races down the open space between the open barriers…”
We learn the details of the shooting and various snippets from the Turkish ambassador and civilians are played. The gunman, Mehmed Ali Agca, was convicted, authorities rule there was no conspiracy and he acted alone. The NOW program brings to light international investigators who have re-opened the case as they believe that this was an organized effort. Did the Soviet Union know about the plot and do nothing? This pope was apparently reaching many Christians inside the eastern bloc.
Pope John Paul II met with the gunman who shot him two years later in 1983, declaring to sincerely forgive the man. Mehmet Ali Agca was sentenced to life imprisonment shortly after the shooting, pardoned in 2000 by an Italian president, then spent time in a Turkish prison until his final release in 2006. No other persons were ever charged.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.