Special report · 1981
L'attentat contre Jean-Paul II
(The attempt on the life of John Paul II)
13 May 1981, St Peter's Square: the Pope is shot. That evening, on TF1's evening news, I reported from Rome. Ten days later I published my investigation into Ali Agca.
On Wednesday 13 May 1981, in the late afternoon, John Paul II was crossing St Peter's Square in his white jeep, through the crowd of the general audience. He had just kissed a child when shots rang out. The Pope collapsed. The gunman, a twenty-three-year-old Turk named Mehmet Ali Agca, was arrested on the spot.
I had been TF1's correspondent in Rome for four years. I knew this Pope: I had watched him being elected and had followed him on most of his journeys around the world. On the eight o'clock news, over pictures from Italian television, I reported on the situation in Rome.
The investigation
A one-minute report is not enough for a story like that. Ten days later, on 23 May, I published a long article in Le Figaro Magazine: Ali Agca's trail, his false passport, the boarding house near the Vatican where he had taken a room, the conspiracy theory. I also described what I had seen of the Pope's security on his travels, he who always wanted to be in touch with the crowds.
John Paul II survived, and he forgave. This report is the last of my Roman archives kept online by the INA, but I remained in post in Rome until 1983.
Key facts
- 13 May 1981: report for TF1's eight o'clock news, over RAI pictures.
- 23 May 1981: my investigation into Ali Agca appears in Le Figaro Magazine.
- I followed most of John Paul II's journeys around the world.