Pope’s book relives attempt on his life

IN his new book, Pope John Paul II for the first time describes publicly the moments after he was gravely wounded in 1981, saying he was fearful and in pain, but had “a strange feeling of confidence” that he would live.

The Polish Pontiff also said his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, “understood that above his power - the power of shooting and killing - there is a greater power”.

In the book, Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums, the Pope said he remembered being rushed to the hospital but didn’t recall much of what happened after he arrived because “I was almost on the other side”.