The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece—an obituary, actually—about Camillo Cibin, who was a bodyguard for six popes, organized security during the Second Vatican Council, and saved the life of John Paul II:
For almost 60 years, Camillo Cibin was the silent shadow of six popes, a broad-shouldered but discreet presence as their chief bodyguard and the Vatican's head of security.Read the entire article. May God grant eternal peace to a man who quietly dedicated his life to protecting the lives of others.
Mr. Cibin, who died Oct. 25 at the age of 83, came to wider attention, much to his dismay, only in 1981 when there was an attempt to assassinate John Paul II. On May 13, Mr. Cibin was at his usual post by the driver's side of the pope's open vehicle as the pontiff greeted crowds in St. Peter's Square. Among them was Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish militant, who fired six shots at the vehicle. The pope was hit four times, twice in the stomach. Two spectators also were wounded.
The director of the Italian police squad in the square leapt on top of John Paul, while Mr. Cibin vaulted the crowd barricades, and, with the help of bystanders, apprehended Mr. Agca. The gunman served 19 years in prison before being released, having been forgiven by the pope, and is now serving a sentence in Turkey for a previous political murder.
Once John Paul II recovered -- having lost three-quarters of his blood in the attack -- Mr. Cibin offered to resign. The pope rejected the offer.
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