Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish jailbreaker and member of the Grey Wolves, a far-right nationalist group, attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome in 1981.

On May 13, 1981, Agca shot and wounded the Pope as he was leaving a public audience at the Vatican. The Pope was seriously injured in the attack but eventually made a full recovery. Ağca was arrested at the scene and later convicted of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life in prison but was later pardoned by the Italian President and returned to Turkey, where he served a prison sentence for a previous murder conviction. The motives for the assassination attempt remain unclear, and Ağca has given conflicting explanations for his actions over the years.