Pope John Paul II who, along with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, played a major role in the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (The Evil Empire), was the victim of an attempted assassination, on May 13, 1981. He miraculously survived that attempt after losing three-quarters of his blood. He credited Our Lady of Fatima (who made her first appearance to the children in Fatima, Portugal on the same date, in 1917), with saving his life that day. He said later:
Could I forget that the event [Ali Ağca's assassination attempt] in St. Peter’s Square took place on the day and at the hour when the first appearance of the Mother of Christ to the poor little peasants has been remembered for over sixty years at Fátima, Portugal? For in everything that happened to me on that very day, I felt that extraordinary motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than the deadly bullet.
