St. Pope John Paul II Forgave His Enemy from behind prison bars. I didn’t know that was an option.

Three days after the assassination attempt on St. Pope John Paul II life, St. Pope John Paul II went to the prison, where the attempted assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, was being held, and forgave him. St. Pope John Paul II did not let criminal Mehmet out of prison. I was amazed! I did not know that was an option! I still hear fellow Catholics glorifying and raving over how St. Pope John Paul II forgave his attacker, even now, 40 years later.

It was a friend who first excitedly told me how (now saint) Pope John Paul II had awesomely forgiven his attacker. I replied, "Wow! So did the Pope have his attempted assassin over for diner at the Vatican, to forgive him?" My friend screamed back, "He forgave his attacker! He didn't let him out of prison!" "Ok, ok! I didn't know. Sorry!", I responded.

I thought of the Captain of the Vatican Swiss Guards giving the morning meeting, three days after the Pope was hit by two bullets, from the attempted assassin's gun, and in which the Pope had almost died from. I am thinking that the Swiss Guard Captain, responsible for the Pope’s safety, would have said, “An unharmed Pope, forgiving his enemy at his enemy's funeral, is better than a Pope forgiving his enemy from behind prison bars, after the Pope suffers injury from the attacker and almost dies. Let's step up our protection of our Pope, whom we love!”

I thought it would be a good topic to discuss:
Forgiving your enemy at their funeral, or forgiving your enemy from behind prison bars, to protect yourself from personal harm, as being a perfectly Christian, Loving, thing to do.

For people out there being domestically abused by a loved one, it is perfectly Christian to call the police on a loved one, testify in court against a loved one, or even shoot a loved one, who is doing you harm, to protect yourself. Forgiving your loved one, who has abused you, from behind prison bars, is Christian love for an abusive loved one.

Here is a domestic violence story about ‘love’.

A woman was hospitalized for one, of many, domestic violence assaults against her, committed by her loved one. She describes the latest incident. Her husband was driving them home when a dispute arose between them. The husband slowed the car down to 20 mph on the freeway, reached over, opened her door, and pushed her out onto the freeway. Then he backed up over top of her. He was considerate enough to stop the car, drag her out of the lanes of traffic, and then call 911, or he at least wanted to be able to beat a murder charge. He got back in his car and yelled to her, “I gotta go before the cops get here because there’s a warrant out for my arrest!” In the hospital, she ended her story by saying, ‘Boy is he going to get it when I get home!’

No! This is not Christian love and forgiveness for a loved one!

Many times, to love your neighbor or loved one as yourself, means to call the police, have them arrested, testify against them in court, and forgive them from behind prison bars. This is the way St. Pope John Paul II forgave his enemy and loved his enemy as himself.

Had American president George W Bush first forgiven those responsible for the terrorist attacks of 911, before he promised America that he would use the full force of our American military, to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice, would Christianity now see such an act by president Bush as far more Christian gloriously forgiving and loving towards enemies than Pope John Paul II’s act of forgiving his attempted assassin?

Vatican City State possesses Sovereign Nation status. Meaning that the Pope is temporal ruler, as well as spiritual leader, of the smallest nation on earth, Vatican City State. If Popes want assassins trying to murder Popes to be left alone and unpunished at the Vatican, Popes are the ones with the temporal power to make that happen. If Popes do not want armed militia, Swiss Guards and Italian police, standing at their sides ready to use even lethal force to protect Popes, Popes are the ones with temporal power to to remove them from Vatican City State.

I think that Catholic Pacifists have distorted the image of St. Pope John Paul II forgiving his attempted assassin enemy. What Catholics need reinforcement on, is how to refrain from the sins of hatred and revenge, when they kill or imprison our enemies, for the protection of the innocent. Let us use St. Pope John Paul II’s forgiveness of his enemy, as a role model, for Christians who imprison or kill, to protect the innocent, out of Christian love for neighbor.