Ali Ağca and Father Pio's "little girl"
Excerpt from the book "The Secret of Father Pio", Antonio Socci, Pierre Téqui Publishing House
Historians are often biased (…) The actual story is not. Only the sacred story can be the true story. Father Pio
Books worthy of being called theology no longer circulate (…), and that is why politicians are wrong at times (…), because mediocre politicians don’t know why. why theology dominates history. Cardinal Giuseppe Siri
On May 13, 1981, at about 17:17, in St. Peter's Square, Mehmet Ali Ağca, a hired killer hired by dark and powerful forces to shoot Pope John Paul II. The 23rd "gray wolf" is a professional sniper, he is there to kill people. He was behind the first row, less than three meters from the Pope. He was very calm and resolute; his goal, no means of resistance, no way out, he has no mercy.
But how and why did the assassination attempt fail? If the pope is killed, and the chance of being killed is 99.99%, then his pontificate ends at dawn. The history of the Church will be different, and especially the history of the world will be different. Yes, because the later role of the “pope of Poland” brought about the collapse of the communist regime, a bloodless, colossal and decisive collapse. All will have to be different and, inevitably, will be tragic for all of humanity.
So the question arises: how and why did the assassination attempt fail? Who stopped the assassin's hand from committing a crime while it was within his reach, at 5:17 pm that evening, in St. Peter's Square, where Peter was martyred 19 centuries ago?
Pope Wojtyla has always claimed that he was saved through the supernatural intervention of Our Lady. The proof is that he painted a statue of Our Lady in Saint Peter's Square, the very place where he was assassinated and the following year he brought the assassination bullet to the shrine of Fatima to carve into the crown of the Queen of Peace as thanksgiving. And indeed, the date of his assassination on May 13 coincided with the day of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, May 13, 1917. One such coincidence involves supernatural protection for the Pope to escape death.
It was inexplicable for a professional killer, so skillful, so determined to miss at such a close distance, with only two shots. In addition, the path of the bullet to the abdomen seemed unnatural, even the surgeons were surprised. A mysterious hand that deflected the bullets to save him was not Karol Wojtyla's subjective assertion, it was an objective fact, and in some way scientifically proven: “Professor Crucitti observed a absolutely unusual and inexplicable.” The projectile was deflected zigzag in the pope's stomach, avoiding the main organs. It was only an inch from the artery: if it touched the artery, the pope would have died of bleeding before reaching the hospital. The bullet also avoids the spine and nerve pathways: if it reached these places, John Paul II would be paralyzed. Professor Crucitti concludes: "It's almost as if the bullet was guided so that it wouldn't do any damage that wouldn't heal."
Therefore, on May 13, 1994, when addressing the Italian bishops, John Paul II had reason to affirm: "It was the mother's hand that guided the projectile and the dying pope stopped at his place. the threshold of death (…). The killing line has stopped and the pope lives, lives to serve!"
This mysterious hand is the hand of the Mother of God that we celebrate the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, that is what Wojtyla affirms. He wrote in Memory and Identity: “I am going to Fatima to give thanks to Our Lady.” On May 13, 1982, the first year after the assassination year, Pope John Paul II declared: “I see in everything. these things have the protective hand of the mother, Mary. At this hour, here, in the shrine of Fatima, I would like to repeat before all of you: 'It is all yours, Mary!'” Then John Paul II also repeated several times: “One one hand shot, one hand deflected the bullet.”
Of course, no one has yet looked for witnesses to this supernatural intervention. No one could have imagined that a real hand would have stopped Ağca's hand from firing these fatal shots. Until one day in July 2007, I read the documents that I received in May 2005, but I ignored them.
As I rearranged my books, I opened a file I didn't even know it was there, which was the incredible story of Cristina Montella, Father Pio's "little girl". I read voraciously and I discovered an unknown continent. A few days later I went to find the person who had collected the documents and documents about this woman.
On a hot and sunny summer day, I drove to the Spolète valley, south of the city of Axis. I felt like a pilgrimage: I passed the shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, a very large temple in which the Portioncule chapel was located, and then I passed the Rivotorto (a small church on the stable where Saint Francis lived for a few days. months with his friends), then Spello and finally Trevi. As I walked towards Montefalco in the countryside, I saw the shrine of the Madonna della Stella.
This is where the Passionist priest Franco D'Anastasio lived, a biblical exegete and pastor for many years at Saint-Gabriel, Addolorata. He wrote many valuable books about St. Gabriel and especially about his charism, which makes him now a historian and biographer of St. Gabriel. One of his recent books is about the similarities between Saint Gabriel and Father Pio.
In recent years, Father Anastasio has conducted an important research, gathering documents and testimonies about the holy Sister Rita Montella (real name Cristina Montella), a Sister of the Order of Saint Augustine, who died on the same day. November 26, 1992 at the convent of Santa Croce sull'Arno in Tuscany, Italy.
From the very beginning of Sister Rita's life, especially her vocation, was closely linked to that of Father Pio, especially "the gift of healing": like Father Pio, she had many gifts and high charisms. precious (thanks in many places at once). As we shall see, Father Pio's relationship with the nun is special; One of the witnesses to this connection is Father Teofilo dal Pozzo (real name Rizieri Bennati) – a respected and influential Franciscan priest – who is Sister Rita's spiritual guide and provincial superior. Capuchin of Foggia, immediate superior and friend of Father Pio.
Father Teófilo is a direct witness of the combined mystical "missions" of Father Pio and Sister Rita. Along with other venerable religious figures, he was the first to thoroughly and deeply study the charisms and holiness of Sister Rita. To gather these documents, Father Anastasio could rely on his personal acquaintance with the nun, and over the years he has included important information for her to attend. One of these pieces of information that really upsets me is the assassination of Pope John Paul II, who is the same age as Sister Rita (John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920, nun was born on the 3rd. April 1920).
Shortly after 1981, in a conversation, Sister Rita confessed to Father Franco, and asked him to keep it a secret until her death, that she was present in St. Peter's Square, present in two places, on the day May 13, 1981. But that's not all, she said: "With Our Lady, I deflected the shot of the author of the assassination of the pope." Those are the words of the nun.
This, of course, is a shocking revelation and is only significant when people believe absolutely in her credibility, in her holy life, and in her supernatural gifts, to which the witnesses are the very trustworthy person, first of all, St. Pio Pietrelcina, who, as we shall see, did some extraordinary feats with Sister Rita.
When we know Father Pio, we understand, to him, extraordinary events are almost daily events of his. And to the extent that we live normally in the dark, we will have a little difficulty - when someone opens our eyes - when we get used to the light, a light that surrounds us, letting us We are with the Eternal, Who is the true and unchanging reality.
As Father Divo Barsotti writes of the apparitions of Our Lady: “As suddenly appeared a world that was always present but often hidden; like testing the human eye with a new ability to see (…). Through these apparitions we are convinced that there is a world of light, purity and love (…). The apparition makes present this redeemed world (…). Thus the apparition is not an act of God on man's imagination. I think one cannot deny its objective reality. The truth is that Our Lady appeared, man has really entered into a relationship with her and with her Son (…). Our Lady never abandoned her child before publicly and solemnly demonstrating her victory over evil. Mother of all, she cannot be far from us, who live in hardship, subject to all kinds of temptations, unable to avoid death."
And here is a nun, living a mystical experience as profound as that experienced in two places, confessing to a priest: "Along with Our Lady, I deflected the shot of the perpetrator of the assassination of the pope."
To this surprising secret was added another sentence that Sister Rita said - on another occasion, more specifically - to Gabriella Panzani, a longtime friend of hers. On one occasion when talking about the assassination of the Pope, she said: "It's hard for me how he didn't get worse."
A sneak peek reveals the critical "price" of love that she has to pay, praying and repenting for others to atone for this terrible sacrilege. We are in the dimension of the “communion of penance” that Sister Rita lived so heroically and also gave Father Pio so many graces from God to give to those who suffer as well as to the Church. festival. In addition, this verse also shows us the answer to the natural objection: Why did God need this humble and unknown nun to save the pope? Of course, the first answer is that God's plan is undetectable. Maybe in this case, God wanted someone to witness to what Our Lady had done. But part of the answer may lie in the fact that Sister Rita is an earthly creature, belonging to a fighting Church, so she dedicates herself to having this great grace for the Church and for the world. Only human beings in this world can do it and have this extraordinary "power". There is only one thing that angels envy us so much, and that is suffering and giving, because that is the strongest and most sincere way to say to God: “I really love you, Father Pio emphasized. !”
Through Father Pio we will see – in the eyes of God – the incomparable value of human suffering offered with love, we will see how it can touch His Heart and create “strength.” strong” for his righteousness (the kingdom of heaven is subject to force, but the strong take it, Mt 11:12). And the strength here is the great grace: saving a great pope.
From this striking revelation, what assertions can we draw? I don't think there is another claim, this is a supernatural event. I don't think there's even any sense in looking for affirmations. Nevertheless, a strange claim was made, even if the person knew nothing of it, that of the murderer Mehmet Ali Ağca himself, which he unconsciously uttered. In response to the lawyer who questioned Ilario Martella during the second investigation, he described the assassination as follows: “My exact intention was to kill the pope. That was the mission that was entrusted to me, I shot two times, next to me was a nun, at one point she grabbed my right arm so I couldn't continue shooting. Otherwise, I would have killed the Pope.”
As I read these words, I felt as though I had discovered a new impression, which seemed to slip out of my mind: a nun whose assassination had been incomplete. Of course I couldn't help but think of Sister Rita. But in fact, news that a nun had stopped Ağca when he shot was immediately spread. These traces were found in the newspapers of that time. For example, journalist Adriano Sofri mentioned in one of his articles, about nuns: “In the evening of the assassination attempt in St Peter's Square, it was said that a nun threw herself at Ali Ağca to deflect bullets.”
In fact, everyone thought that the nun whom Mr. Ağca said was holding his hand was the nun who prevented him from escaping. A possible mistake was discovered by the police and identified at the scene only the second nun, who testified in court. As for the first nun, there was no trace, the police did not identify and she did not stay in Saint Peter's Square after holding the assassin's hand to prevent him from shooting any more. We are touching the hands of the occult, of the supernatural and we certainly understand, which will make everyone wince. As philosopher Jean Guitton puts it, mystics overturn presuppositions that define physics-mathematics because they open up to us other dimensions, they make us realize that our vision is short. how much and they let the Eternal infiltrate the present moment.
And that is also why the incomprehensible can become the understandable: believing a nun living in seclusion in a convent in Tuscany, who, one day, by the grace of being present in two places stopped the killer. shot the Pope. As we shall see, the testimonies of grace in two places by Sister Rita and by Father Pio are numerous and undeniable. On the other hand, these facts are objective in accordance with the "revealing" of Sister Rita. The first event was Ağca's own confession when it came to a nun who grabbed his arm, preventing him from shooting any more. The second event is the testimony of “sister Lucia” who stopped Ağca from escaping.
It was not easy to find this nun (in addition, indirectly). I know that the nun lives at the convent of Geneva, but she does not speak to reporters. Recently, however, on January 10, 2006, in an article in the newspaper Eco di Bergamo, she wrote about the memories of this assassination. Sister Lucia Giudici – her Order name is Letizia – wrote: “Yes, that day I was waiting for someone to stop him but there was none, at that time all the pilgrims and tourists were shocked to see the pope. seriously injured were transported to the Agostino Gemelli hospital. It all happened in a few minutes, instinctively, I tried to stop him, keep him until it was time to hand him over to the police."
Sister Lucia said nothing about being with the killer or holding his hand; on the contrary, nun chi refers to the killer running away after shooting. Thus, the nun answered. But to be precise, she was some distance away from this murderer. How do? I know that Sister Lucia is originally from a small village in the state of Bergame, and during the days I am writing she is spending her summer here. Thanks to the valuable cooperation of Mr. Ettore Ongis, Director of Eco, I met her on August 23, 2007 during the 18 o'clock Mass, and here, informally, she gave me a precise information that for me it was inevitable: Ali Ağca was about ten meters in front of her. He fired two shots, then he turned and began to flee towards the Bernin column, that is to say, in the direction of the nun. Since no one could stop him, the nun stretched out her arms to stop him. He then pointed the gun at her, but when she moved to turn around, he lost his balance and she was able to stop him until someone else arrived; Finally, security came and handcuffed him.
One thing is for sure, then: Sister Lucia was far away when Ağca shot, so she wasn't the nun holding his hand - as he testified himself - "at one point she grabbed my right arm so I couldn't do it. keep shooting. Otherwise, I would have killed the Pope.” But if it's not Sister Lucia, then who is the nun holding hands that the police did not recognize on the spot after the assassination, the sister who seemed to have disappeared in St. Peter's Square?
Sister Rita died in 1992, today Father Franco d'Anastasio can tell the stories she confessed to her father. That way it's no longer a secret. And his testimony was that a volume, like the "handwritten biography of Sister Rita" sent to the Vatican in 2000, was read and appreciated. A copy was sent privately to the pope with a letter of recommendation from Father Anastasio showing pages about the 1981 assassination.
Did John Paul II read these documents? What was his reaction? We do not know. However, in 2007, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Cracovia, former personal secretary of John Paul II called Father Anastasio and asked him to swear on the testimony of the assassination and the words of the nun. Rita for use as a document for the diocesan canonization dossier for the beatification of Karol Wojtyla is opening in Cracovia.
So Sister Lucia Giudici was called to testify. And to believe that their two testimonies – in the beatification of Pope Wojtyla – were based specifically on the supernatural intervention of Our Lady in the defense of the pope on May 13, 1981. Furthermore, after During the assassination attempt, Sister Rita also told Father Anastasio many important details. Here's the synopsis: “The assassination author won't tell. The bullets that injured the Pope were poisoned. He was with two other men, who fled. He has an international complicity against the Pope and against the Church.” The information was later confirmed during a court investigation and in subsequent events.
And one could say, in the face of a dark plan against the pope and the Church, God has arranged to save, beginning with the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, to Father Pio and on May 13, 1981. with the intervention of Sister Rita. But what connection was there between Sister Rita and Father Pio? The “little girl” as Father Pio used to call one of his spiritual children was unknown at that time.
The nun's story is gradually being revealed and it is planned that the Church will conduct an evaluation of her heroic and holy virtues. This will trigger other stages, like the ones mentioned above. But we also know, John Paul II and Sister Rita were present in the "great historical mission" of St. Pius Pietrelcina. They will reveal my father's secret. The mystery of the father's mission.
As Cardinal Siri said on the matter, he pondered his words: “It is in the action of Father Pio that we see the true reality of our time.”
In order to get into Father Pio's strange "secret", we must forget the usual image that the press ascribes to him (fatherhood turned into a sensational subject), as well as some of the opposition within the clergy. The product that John Paul II rejected in his canonization of Padre Pio, the canonization for which Christians wholeheartedly requested. After the death of John Paul II, though, this hidden opposition seemed to regenerate, once more, the signs coming from the hierarchy.
Many people want to tell their father's life and pictures. But the father's mystery that we all need to know that will likely be discovered in the years to come, remains unsolved for now. During his lifetime, Father Pio himself made it clear, though very discreet. Seeking the instructions of this secret is like finding a needle in the bottom of the sea. However, we can also find some indications in the intimate correspondence that Father Pio wrote to his spiritual superiors at the beginning of his ministry (Father Pio had explicitly asked them to accept these letters). this cancels it after reading, or at least doesn't let anyone else read it).
The first allusion was in a letter dated April 7, 1913 to Father Agostino, spiritual guide Father Pio. He presented, first that God told him to tell his superiors, and then he concluded: "Jesus continued to speak, but he told me never to reveal it to any creature. in this world.”
The second allusion, always discreet but more obvious, was in November 1922 (four years after he received the stigmata). Very agitated, he recalled moments of intimate conversation with God: “I give thanks and praises to you, my God. When I gave you a great mission, I obscured you from everyone's eyes, a mission that only Me and you know. My God, my Father!”
In searching through the vast body of documents about him and about him, in the huge volumes of the cause of beatification or in the Epistolario, one finds no other indications that are obvious, if not implicit, in them. . When one of my spiritual daughters asked what happened when I celebrated Mass, I cried as I said, “My responsibility is unique in the world.” And on another occasion: "How many secrets in my heart can only be revealed from above."
Surely this "secret" was only overhead for even Father Pio, at least in the beginning. Yes, on March 17, 1916, he wrote to Father Agostino, who confessed his most intimate things: “There are so many things I want to tell you, father: I know, I am a mystery to myself. both children.” Whatever it is, believe in the words of Fr. Benedetto, Fr. Pio's spiritual guide, Fr. Benedetto got it right when he defined Father Pio's mystical mission as "redemption." . However, it is important to understand what a "mission" is and what are the disturbing consequences that it had and still remains.
Regarding the "mystery" of Father Pio, we have a special document. Lucia Fiorentino's supernatural revelation. Lucia wrote in the Diary at the behest of her divine guides. All reported in Father Pio's cause for canonization. In 1906, it was through Jesus that Lucia Fiorentino learned of a priest compared to an "excessive tree" to San Giovanni Rotondo. At that time Father Pio was a young brother living in the Capuchin seminary in Morcone and she had many theories about the priest's true identity. A few years later Father Pio returned to San Giovanni Rotondo and became her spiritual father. On August 19, 1923, Jesus himself explained everything to her: “Jesus said to me: 'Do you remember what I showed you in 1906 when you were sick?' 'Yes, you remember. .' Jesus said to me: 'A priest comes from afar, represented as a tall tree planted in the monastery. A tree so tall and deeply rooted, whose shadow will cover the whole world.' Whoever, with faith, is under the shade of this beautiful and luxuriant tree will have true salvation; on the contrary, whoever despises and mocks, Jesus threatens to punish. And so now he explained to me, this tree is Father Pio who came from afar, planted in the convent according to God's will, and those who come to hide here, those are the souls who are guided by him, yes word in faith and go forward; while those who despise and slander me will be punished by God.” (Lucia Fiorentino, 1889-1934, as a child wanted to enter the Franciscan Third Order and lead a consecrated life, but her parents opposed it).
There is also another special document from a mystic: Sister of the Order of Maria Francesca Foresti (her name is Eleonora Foresti), she is the founder of the Franciscan Sisters of Adoration. A cause of beatification is opening in the diocese of Bologne for the nun. The nun knew Father Pio in 1919 and in her Diary, she said, in a vision, Jesus revealed to her that Italy was saved from communism in 1920 through Father Pio's prayer. Then the Lord spoke to her about Father Pio with these strange words: “My heart is a stronghold (…). It is My refuge from the ingratitude of mankind (…). Father Pio has the same kingdom as Me, for I, Jesus, I live in Father Pio (…). Father Pio is the masterpiece of My mercy. To Father Pio, I give all the graces of My Spirit as I have never given to any other creature. Father Pio is a complete imitator of Me, My Host, My altar, My sacrifice, My grace and My glory!”
Sublime words that we cannot judge but are based on the mystery of Father Pio. The only one trying to provide an answer was Cardinal Siri: “A man crucified within half a century? What is the meaning of all this? Know why Jesus was on the cross? He was on the cross for the sins of mankind, and when in the course of history, there are some people who were crucified (…), this means that man's sin is too great and in order to save it, someone must return. Calvary, was nailed to the cross and was there to suffer for his brethren. Our time needs those who give what the Son of God suffered (…). And that is all the action of Father Pio.”
And that is why, through Father Pio, so many graces have been and are still given. As he himself foretold to Giovanni Bardazzi: “I will tell everyone, after my death, I live longer than before. And all those who come to ask for me, I spend nothing. Of those who climbed this mountain, no one left empty-handed!”