On Friday, the world marks 30 years since the failed assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, an accident in which many used to believe Bulgaria was involved.

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot four times and seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca.

Based on visits Agca made to Sofia, the theory that Bulgaria's communist secret service, and perhaps even the KGB, lay behind the attack emerged about a year after the incident and became broadly accepted.

During his visit to Bulgaria in May 2002, Pope John Paul II stated that he did not believe in the Bulgarian involvement in the attempt on his life.

According to a new book, called "Kill the Pope: The Truth about the Assassination Attempt on Pope John Paul II", written by journalists Marco Insaldo and Yasemin Taskin, the CIA drew up the story of Communist conspiracy after America's top diplomat circulated a request for material to use against the Communist bloc.

Agca, who belonged to an outlawed ultra-nationalist and pro-Islam Turkish group called the Grey Wolves, tried to kill the pope purely because of his and the group's fanatical anti-Western ideology, according to the book.

On May 1, Pope John Paul II was beatified Sunday by successor Benedict XVI at a solemn mass in front of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered on the St. Peter Square in the Vatican.