Chief bodyguard of Pope John Paul II passes away

(October 26, 2009) The long-time chief bodyguard of the late Pope John Paul II, who accompanied him in trips abroad and was nearby during the 1981 attempted assassination of the pontiff, has died in Rome at 83. Camillo Cibin was one of the most faithful papal servants. In 2006, he retired as head of the papal bodyguards after a 58-year globe-trotting career in the Vatican's security services. Cibin who died Sunday morning at the Pius XI clinic in Rome, was often was seen running alongside ‘popemobiles’ to protect the pontiff in Pope John Paul's 104 pilgrimages abroad. He was also nearby when, on May 13, 1981, a Turkish gunman shot John Paul in a failed assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square.