In a letter allegedly written from prison and published by an Italian Weekly Mehmet Ali Ağca, the would be assassin of Pope John Paul II, is claiming to have renounced Islam and embraced Catholicism.

The intent of the letter doesn’t seem to be announcing his alleged conversion. Instead, it seems he’s seeking a pen pal who is a Catholic woman because of his conversion.

I honestly don’t know what to make of this but some foreign newspapers are running the story so I ran the article through a series of translators but it’s still a little choppy. Here it is:

7s7 Monde is reporting:

Mehmet Ali Agca, author of the failed attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981, claims to have renounced Islam and embraced the Catholic faith, in a letter written from prison in Turkey and published Tuesday by an Italian weekly Diva e people donna.

“I am looking for an Italian woman, who wants to correspond with me. Obviously (I hope) it is Catholic because, since 13 May 2007, I decided to renounce the Muslim faith and becoming a faithful l ‘Roman Catholic Church, “writes Ali Agca, who is serving a prison sentence in Turkey.
“I decided to return peacefully on the square (St. Peter’s in Rome) and to testify to the world of my conversion to Catholicism,” he says in the letter written in Italian, as Diva and Donna. “I wish only to one day return to Rome to pray at the tomb of John Paul II to express my appreciation for its subsidiary forgiveness,” he adds.

Questioned by AFP in Turkey, his former lawyer Mustafa Demirbag, said he was “very skeptical” about the conversion. To be recognized as Catholic, a simple declaration is not enough and a long path leading to baptism is necessary. Ali Agca also said to have expressed his “desire (to visit St. Peter’s Square) to Pope Benedict XVI”, without having received “no response so far” and claims to have informed the Vatican of his conversion.

“For the Vatican, I may still be the man who tried to assassinate the Polish Pope, but now I changed, I am a different man,” he says. John Paul II forgave his assailant he had met in prison in 1983.

I found this via Big Blue Wave and she asks that people recognize the date of May 13 as the same date of the assassination attempt.

I still don’t what to think but I pass it on to you. Like I said, it’s making its way around news sites and blogs in Europe. It’s likely we’ll be hearing more about this. Obviously, this would be a huge story, if true. We should all pray for him just as Pope John Paul II did.

Check out Big Blue Wave too.