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I assume you're talking about the 1981 assassination attempt against John Paul II.

Basically, the Soviet feeling was that the pope was a destabilizing influence on their control of (mostly Catholic) Poland. In general, the Soviets were anti-religious, but John Paul II stuck in their craw rather more than most popes, since he was especially popular in Poland (being Polish himself) and he supported the Solidarnosc movement... a bad combination, in their eyes.

It's worth noting that it hasn't actually been proven that the Soviets were specifically behind the attempt, though it is pretty clear they would generally have regarded its success as a good thing.

UPDATE:

Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, High level defector from the Romanian spy organization, in his book

Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategy for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism

verified that the assassination attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II was carried out by the KGB working through Bulgarian operatives.

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11y ago

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