Istanbul , Turkey ( CNN ) -- The man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released from prison in Turkey Monday , Turkey 's Anadolu news agency reported . Mehmet Ali Agca , now 52 , severely wounded the pontiff in Rome 's St. Peter 's Square on May 13 , 1981 . John Paul spent six hours on an operating table and survived . Four days later he announced from his hospital bed he had forgiven the attempted assassin and urged the faithful to pray for Agca . The pope spent more than three weeks in Gemelli hospital recovering . Agca was arrested a few minutes after the attack , tried , and sentenced to 19 years in prison . He has never explained why he tried to kill the pope . There has long been suspicion that he was working for an eastern European Communist government angry at the Polish-born pope 's vocal anti-Communism . But on a 2002 visit to Bulgaria -- a focus of much speculation -- the pope said he did not believe the Balkan state was behind the attempt on his life . The pope visited Agca in prison on December 27 , 1983 , and reportedly forgave him in person . Agca was granted clemency by the president of Italy in 2000 , to John Paul 's `` satisfaction , '' according to the Vatican . He was then transferred to his native Turkey , where he was re-arrested for the murder of a Turkish journalist in 1979 . Agca killed Abdi Ipekci in 1979 , Anadolu said . Ipekci was editor-in-chief of the daily Milliyet . Agca was due to be taken to a military facility to assess his fitness for military service after his release . In 2006 , a military hospital ruled that he was not fit for the obligatory military service due to a severe anti-social personality disorder , but the Ministry of National Defense did not approve the exemption , the Turkish news agency said .
Mehmet Ali Agca severely wounded the pope in 1981 attack . Pope John Paul II reportedly forgave Acga during a 1983 prison visit . Agca was granted clemency by Italy , but jailed again for another killing .