Little fanfare at Vatican on account of release of papal gunman Agca

The release of the Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II passed with little notice here Thursday, with the Vatican newspaper ignoring the news and Pope Benedict XVI making no public mention of it during a busy day of audiences and speeches. Vatican Radio carried a brief interview with a spokesman for Turkish bishops, Monsignor Georges Marovich, who urged the public not to make a big deal about the release of Mehmet Ali Agca. "The less it's talked about, the better," he told the broadcaster.

He noted that John Paul had forgiven Agca, and concurred with suggestions by some Italian investigators that Agca's life may be in danger. But his main message was that Agca needed prayers. "Once again, we pray for him that the Lord illuminates him and that he makes a new life," he said. Agca shot the pope in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, and was captured immediately. He served 20 years in prison in Italy before being pardoned and extradited to Turkey in 2000, where he was immediately jailed for killing a Turkish journalist.

The Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, made no mention of the release in its Thursday afternoon editions, and similarly didn't report on the news when it was first announced earlier this week. Benedict hasn't commented publicly on the release, and made no mention of it in two speeches he delivered Thursday during audiences with Italian officials and members of a Catholic community. The Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, has said the Vatican defers to the jurisdiction of the Turkish courts in the matter, reports the AP. N.U.