Car from Turk’s attempt on life of pope to be exhibited at Vatican

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo/TGCOM24

The car in which late Pope John Paul II was riding when he was attacked by far-right Turkish militant Mehmet Ali Ağca in a failed 1981 assassination attempt will be displayed in the Vatican Museum, Doğan news agency has reported.

The museum will begin to display the white car tomorrow, 34 years to the day after John Paul II was elected pope. 

Ağca was 23-year-old when he shot the pope in Saint Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, leaving him seriously injured.

Ağca was sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy for his attempt on the pope, but was pardoned in June 2000 at John Paul’s request. He was immediately imprisoned upon his return to Turkey for the murder of a Turkish journalist, avoiding arrest and two armed robberies.

He was released in 2010 after 10 years in prison for the crimes.