The Civic Hall of Pozzolengo hosted the presentation of the new book by Ezio Gavazzeni, titled “The Pope Must Die.” The event, which took place on Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30 PM in the Civic Hall at Piazza Don Gnocchi, provided an opportunity to explore new information regarding the assassination attempt on Karol Wojtyla.
A Historical Examination
Gavazzeni, a lecturer in writing courses and an author of fiction and investigative works, with numerous international literary awards, presented his latest work. During the meeting, the author engaged in a discussion with Daniela Aschedamini, the Cultural Councillor, offering the audience details and insights into one of the most complex events in recent history. The book, a result of extensive research, includes over 400 unpublished documents that provide a different perspective on the 1981 assassination attempt.
Contents Revealed by the Book
The book sheds light on documentation tracing death threats directed at the Pope by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) between 1977 and 1983. These threats were allegedly linked to “Operation Safe Haven,” a joint initiative involving the Vatican, the Italian government, and the United States (with the involvement of Henry Kissinger), aimed at facilitating the emigration of Armenians from the then USSR and their resettlement in Rome, in anticipation of a transfer to the United States.
The volume also revealed that in 1980, the Italian state initiated negotiations with Armenian terrorists in Beirut, culminating in an agreement signed by Oscar Luigi Scalfaro in 1983. This agreement stipulated the cessation of attacks on Italian territory in exchange for halting the flow of Armenian refugees through the country, a halt that, as confirmed by the managers of the involved guesthouses, indeed occurred.
Gavazzeni emphasized that in 1983, during the investigations led by magistrate Ilario Martella into the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and the so-called “Bulgarian Connection,” the intelligence services failed to inform him about the prior threats and the involvement of Armenian terrorism, as well as the negotiations with the Italian state. This aspect, as stated by Martella himself in an interview included in the book, was unknown to him.
Italian Version
