Man Who Shot Pope John Paul II Removed From Iznik Ahead Of Pope Leo XIV’s Visit

Turkish authorities escorted Mehmet Ali Agca — the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 — out of the town of Iznik on Thursday, just hours before Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to arrive, according to Turkish media reports.

Agca, a Turkish national, fired multiple shots at Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in May 1981, gravely wounding the pontiff. Speaking to local media on Thursday, Agca expressed hopes of meeting Pope Leo XIV “for two or three minutes,” but was removed from the area prior to the pope’s visit, Halk TV reported.

After the assassination attempt, Agca was sentenced to life in prison in Italy and later served time in Ankara. He was released in 2010 after spending 29 years behind bars. John Paul II famously visited Agca in prison in 1983, where the attacker expressed repentance, though he never fully explained his motives.

Before being escorted away in Iznik, Agca told reporters he simply wanted “to welcome the pope” and hoped for a brief conversation “in Iznik or in Istanbul.”

Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, is visiting Turkey on his inaugural trip abroad as head of the Catholic Church. His stop in Iznik commemorates the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, the landmark 325 A.D. gathering that produced a foundational Christian creed still used today.