Tim Richards
Though the assassination attempt made news around the world, John Paul II again made worldwide news when he asked people to “pray for my brother [Agca]… who I have sincerely forgiven.” It is one thing to say he forgave the man who attempted to take his life, but the Pope did more. In 1983, he had a private visit with his assassin at the prison where he was detained in Rome. In the years that followed, the Pope kept in touch with the assassin’s family. He met with the man’s mother in 1987 and with his brother 10 years later.
John Paul II did even more. He asked that the man who had attempted to kill him be pardoned, and in June 2000, Italy’s president, Carlo Ciampi, granted his request. Agca was returned to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for a previous assassination. He was not released until January 2010.
Forgiveness is seldom easy, but it is always appropriate. The Apostle Peter asked Jesus, “‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’” Peter likely thought his answer would impress Jesus, but it did not. “‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’” (Matthew 18:21-22, NLT)
The point of Jesus’ remarkable statement about forgiving others 490 times was not to suggest we should keep track of how many times others have failed us so we can quit forgiving them the 491st time they mess up. Most Bible scholars believe Jesus’ point is that we are not to keep track of how many times others let us down.
While Jesus challenges all of us to forgive, forgiving those who hurt us is rarely our first reaction. After Jesus’ statement, he told a parable in Matthew 18:23-35, teaching us that if we want God to forgive us for our many failures, we must be willing to forgive others for theirs.
Pope John Paul II understood Jesus’ lesson about forgiveness, and he forgave his assassin. Jesus’ words challenge each of us to be as committed to forgiving others as God is to forgiving us.
