DID YOU KNOW ? The attack on John Paul II could have been avoided

By listening to the story dedicated to John Paul II, you may have wanted to know more about the attack that targeted the pontifical sovereign. In this bonus episode of "At the heart of history", the history specialist Jean des Cars tells how the French counterintelligence services tried to warn the Holy Father of the attack that threatened him.

This story begins on June 1, 1979. The day before the Pope's first trip to Poland, his native land. He had been elected the previous year. Two senior employees of the boss of the French counterintelligence service, then called SDECE, have an appointment with Mgr Calmels. Among them is Alexandre de Marenches, who has known the prelate for a long time. Coming from Paris, these visitors carry a disturbing message: it is possible that an assassination attempt may take place against John Paul II during his trip. But this message was never transmitted to John Paul II ...

Fortunately, his trip to Poland ultimately revealed no threat. He is even triumphant. However, the SDECE remains on alert. Two years later, on April 21, 1981, two new emissaries from Alexandre de Marenches asked for an urgent audience with Mgr Calmels. This time, the message is more specific: a plot, hatched by the KGB, would threaten the life of the Holy Father. 

Again, this information was not passed on. And it is French political circumstances that will make the message go unheeded. Indeed, François Mitterrand was elected to the Presidency of the French Republic on May 10, 1981. He decides to appoint communist ministers in the government of Pierre Mauroy. 

An attack fomented by the KGB? 

Alexandre de Marenches believes that these appointments are incompatible with the continuation of his work. He resigns. The new Minister of Defense, Charles Hernu, appoints his successor, Pierre Marion. He will not follow up on what he calls "the anticommunist fads of his predecessor" ... The doctrinal change of the French Services could be understood: the French authorities were on the left. 

Unfortunately, this time, Alexandre de Marenches' information seems well founded: three days later, on May 13, 1981, Jean-Paul II was the victim of an attack. Seriously wounded by bullets, the pope will nevertheless be saved. No formal evidence has ever been found of the KGB's responsibility for the attack.

In a more diplomatic and less tragic field, did you know who is the first head of state that Pope John Paul II, freshly elected, received before the others? It was President Valéry Giscard-d'Estaing, on October 26, 1978. In fact, it was a stroke of luck. He should have met the predecessor of Jean-Paul II, Jean-Paul 1er who had accepted the request for hearing. John Paul II decides to honor this appointment granted by his predecessor. Giscard-d'Estaing, always delighted to be the first, must have savored this moment, saying, perhaps, that France was definitely "the eldest daughter of the Church" ...

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars 

Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli

Realization: Guillaume Vasseau

Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio