Photo of Pope John Paul II and Virgin Mary-Fiction!

Photo of Pope John Paul II and Virgin Mary- Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
A recently released picture of Pope John Paul II being embraced by the Virgin Mary supposedly taken at the time of his attack on May 13, 1981. The picture is said to have been taken by one of his body guards. Some versions of this eRumor include a prayer and request to forward this to all your friends to encourage prayer in the world.

The Truth:

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot as he arrived in St. Peter's Square to speak to the people who had gathered there. The pope was critically wounded but survived after surgery and a long recovery. The gunman was apprehended in the square and sentenced to life in prison.

TruthOrFiction.com contacted professor Joaquín Navarro-Valls, who is quoted in the eRumor as authenticating the picture. He said the photograph in the eRumor was not in any way released by the Vatican nor was it taken - as is implied in some other web sites - by any of the security people close John Paul II on the day the pope was shot.

We found a similar image claimed to be from a stained glass window of Pope John Paul II and Our Lady of Czestochowa at the Florida residence of Bishop Thomas Wenski.

It is so similar to the photo in the eRumor that one wonders whether it was the inspiration for it. Bishop Wenski was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Orlando July 1, 2003 by Pope John Paul II. We are awaiting a call back from Bishop's office.

Stained glass window in Bishop Wenski's residence

updated 09/04/08

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

What an amazing picture!!!!

We don't know why John Paul II wanted to hide this picture for years. The Vatican published this picture recently, for first time. This picture was taken by one of his security guards just when the Pope was attacked and was falling down in his pope mobile. U can see the pain in his face.

Joaquin Navarro Valls, who is the one spokesman from The Vatican, said that they made a lot of studies for years of this incredible picture and of course about the quality of the developing of the picture because when it was developed nobody could see very well because the image was
not clear. Finally, and after so many controls and being looking and checking by all the experts in photography (around the world), they decided that there were no tricks in it and today they give us this beautiful gift from our Mother of God.

You can see the Mother of God holding John Paul II in her arms. Beautiful right?