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A dramatic encounter with my mother that saved the life of Pope John Paul II



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LOCAL WOMEN MOVED SUSPECT JUST BEFORE POPE SHOT
By Andy Tomolonis - News Staff Writer


What started out like a dream come true for two local women turned into a nightmare when they shook hands with Pope John Paul just minutes before an assassin's bullets cracked through Vatican Square, felling the Pontiff last Wednesday morning.

But the women believe if their group was not in the right place at the right time the Pope would have been fatally shot. Mrs. Claire LeBlanc, organizer of a semi-annual pilgrimage to Italy, said the alleged attempted assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, tried to push his way into the front row where her group was standing.

Her sister, Mrs. Louise Bergen of Braintree, told the alleged assassin that he could not stand in the front row with the Americans.

Mrs. LeBlanc said this probably prevented the potential killer from getting a clean shot at the Pope.

Mrs. Bergen said the assassin could have easily killed the Pope if she had not spoke up and told him to leave.

"We had been standing for hours, waiting to see the Holy Father. Then, one of the other pilgrims tapped me on the shoulder and said this man is pushing his way in. We think he didn't want to make any commotion."

Mrs. Bergen said, "He seemed odd but I didn't take much notice. I had no idea what he wanted to do".

She said the suspect was about 30 feet away from her when he allegedly shot the Pope over the heads of another American group behind her.

"We were in the first row and the Holy Father passed right in front of us. Had he been with us he would have certainly killed the Pope." Bergen said.

"He shook hands with us. He would have been able to kill him. We were touching the Pope." Bergen added.

Mrs. LeBlanc of Pond St, Natick, confirmed her sister's claim that the Pope would have been killed had the alleged assassin stayed with their group. And she said it was providential that her group was in the right place at the right time.

Mrs. LeBlanc said Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Massachusetts had written to the Vatican to authorize a group pass for the pilgrims. Due to a delay in the Italian mail system, the Vatican never received the Cardinal's message.

As a result, Mrs. LeBlanc went directly to the Vatican to acquire a pass for her group.

"It was a complete surprise to be put in the front row. We were as close to the Holy Father as I am to you (four feet).

"Had he (the alleged assassin) gone in with us, he would have been directly in front of the Holy Father and his shots would have killed him" Mrs. LeBlanc said.

"I'd have to say it was providential. The angels in heaven protected us and protected the Holy Father.

"Had the Vatican received the Cardinal's letter, we would have been in a different area".

She said her reaction changed from happiness to despair in a matter of minutes when she knew the Pope had been shot.

"We had a moment of joy and then sadness to see him come by in the jeep slumped over."

Mrs. LeBlanc said the Pope passed her group, made a short loop and was on his way back when she heard the shots.

"Immediately when we heard the shots, we all knew that the Holy Father had been shot."

She said the Swiss guards told them that the Pope had indeed been shot as they cleared a path for the returning jeep.

"He was slumped in the jeep and had blood on his cassock and blood on his hands. He appeared conscious, but he seemed to be growing faith because his color had changed."

But from the moment the shots rang out, Mrs. LeBlanc, said her group of 31 pilgrims knew the Pope would survive.

"We all felt in our group that the Holy Father was not killed."

She said there was no pandemonium when the Pope had been shot. People were quiet and they kneeled down and prayed.

"They obeyed the announcement on the loudspeakers, asking everyone to pray for the Pope."

She said in the immediate areas where the assassin was located there was some commotion.

"A nun grabbed the man's legs like a football tackler and wouldn't let go."

"Even when the police had the man handcuffed, the nun was still hanging on to his feet. She tackled him while he still had the gun."

Mrs. LeBlanc is the organizer of the JMJ (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) San Damiano Center in Natick. She has organized two trips a year to Italy since 1970. The trips are made primarily to visit the Shrine of the Miraculous Madonna of the Roses of San Damiano in a small village that is about a two hour ride from Milan.

Mrs. LeBlanc said people from all over the world come to the Shrine to hear the Madonna speak through a local peasant villager, Mrs. Rosa Quattrini.

As part of the semi-annual trips to the Shrine, the pilgrims tour Vatican City.

In what LeBlanc feels is an almost symbolic coincidence - the Pope, who turned 61 today, was elected on the first day of the apparition at the Holy Shrine.

Mrs. LeBlanc just returned from Italy Sunday night.


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