In an unexpected gesture as he was greeting people at the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV stopped at the exact spot where, 45 years ago, St. John Paul II was shot in an assassination attempt.
Leo got out of the vehicle and remained in silence to pray before the white marble plaque marking the place where the Polish pope was struck by four gunshots fired by the Turkish gunman Ali Agca on May 13, 1981. Leo then knelt and touched the plaque before continuing his ride around the square.
The attack on John Paul II coincided with the anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal.
Days after the attempt on his life, while still recovering, John Paul II read the third part of the secret of Fátima, until then known only to the popes and later made public. Written by one of the seers, Sister Lucia, it describes the vision of the Holy Father "afflicted with pain and sorrow," praying "for the souls of the corpses he met on his way."
Pope John Paul II never ceased to express his gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life. "One hand fired; another guided the bullet," he said in an interview with the French writer André Frossard. After being discharged from the hospital and resuming general audiences in St. Peter's Square following five months of hospitalization, he also said he had experienced "the extraordinary maternal protection which proved stronger than the deadly projectile."
In 1982, St. John Paul II celebrated Mass in Fátima and consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On May 13, 2000, he beatified the shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta at the Portuguese shrine.
'Mary, model of the Church'
Today, Leo XIV wanted to underscore that the attempt on John Paul II's life was not fatal "thanks to the protection of Our Lady, as he himself confirmed in many ways."
For this reason, he explained, he dedicated his May 13 catechesis to "the Virgin Mary, model of the Church" and to his predecessor, whose motto was "Totus Tuus."
The pope thus continued his cycle of catechesis on the Second Vatican Council, pausing on the final chapter of the dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Leo said Mary "is hailed as a preeminent and singular member of the Church, and as its type and excellent example in faith and charity."
"Mary is the perfect model of what the whole Church is called to be: a creature of the Word of the Lord and mother of the children of God, begotten in docility to the action of the Holy Spirit," the Holy Father said. "Furthermore, as she is the believer par excellence, in whom we are offered the perfect form of unconditional openness to the divine mystery within the communion of God's holy people, Mary is an excellent member of the ecclesial community."
He also explained that the Virgin Mary is the "woman who is the icon of the Mystery," who was granted the grace to live "the extraordinary experience of becoming the mother of the Messiah."
"In her, both God's gratuitous election and her free consent of faith in him shine forth. Mary is therefore the woman who is the icon of the Mystery, that is, of the divine plan of salvation, once hidden and now revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ," he said.
In the Virgin Mary, he continued, there is also reflected "the mystery of the Church: in her, the people of God find the representation of their origin, their model, and their homeland."
Model of maternal charity
In the mother of the Lord, the Church contemplates its own mystery, "not only because she finds in her the model of virginal faith, maternal charity, and the spousal covenant to which she is called but also and above all because in her she recognizes her own archetype, the ideal figure of what she is called to be," Leo said.
The reflections contained in Lumen Gentium, he concluded, teach us to love the Church and to serve within her the fulfillment of the kingdom of God, which is coming and which will be fully realized in glory.
He invited the faithful to allow themselves to be challenged by the example of Mary, virgin and mother, with concrete questions: "Do I live my participation of the Church with humble and active faith? Do I recognize in her the community of the covenant that God has given me to respond to his infinite love? Do I feel that I am a living part of the Church, in obedience to the pastors given by God? Do I look to Mary as a model, an outstanding member and mother of the Church, and ask her to help me be a faithful disciple of her son?"
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
