MANILA: A 35-year-old Bolivian painter, Benjamin Mendoza, attacked Pope Paul VI with a knife 10 minutes after the Pontiff arrived here yesterday [Nov 27] on an Asian tour.

Mendoza lunged at the Pope as he was surrounded by a welcoming crowd at Manila International Airport. Pope Paul stood for several seconds with raised arms as he emerged smiling from his chartered aircraft. It was when President Ferdinand Marcos stepped forward to welcome him that the strict security measures broke down, the crowd surged forward and Mendoza made for the Pope. He was pounced on by security men and the President himself knocked the knife out of his hand with a karate blow. Mendoza was quoted by interrogators as saying he wanted to “save humanity from the religious propaganda of the Pope”.

At about the same time as the assault on the Pope at the airport, Police arrested a man with a knife in front of the Manila Cathedral. The man, a Filipino, was reported to have said he was an agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

The Philippines Television reported last night the Pope has forgiven his would-be assassin and blessed the crucifix the attacker used to hide a 10-inch double-bladed knife.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2020