1981

This article includes events that occurred in the Christian world in .
==Events==
* May 13. Assassination attempt. Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca shoots and critically wounds Pope John Paul II. Following the shooting, the pope asked people to "pray for my brother (Ağca), whom I have sincerely forgiven."
* July. Mehmet Ali Ağca sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy.
* Founding of The National Center for Science Education, which opposes creationism
* The "Monkey Trial Replay." The Creation Science Research Centre, a San Diego-based fundamentalist group, argues in court that teaching evolution as the sole theory of development violated the rights of children who believed in biblical creation.
* Pope John Paul II releases the encyclical Laborem Exercens.
==Births==
==Deaths==
Category:20th century