On September 4, 2022, Pope Francis presided in Rome over the beatification ceremony of Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, whose sudden death on September 28, 1978, after only 33 days of pontificate, had struck all the faithful. But despite this short reign on the See of Peter, John Paul I will have left an indelible mark in the memory of all, as much by his smile as by his humility, and his ability to transmit the message of the Christian faith in simple words.
In fact, it is not only his pontificate, but his whole life, as a priest and bishop, that the Church offers as a model to the faithful. Two days before the beatification ceremony, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, postulator of the cause of beatification of John Paul I, whom he had known personally when Luciani was his bishop in the diocese of Vittorio Veneto, declared:
"I have the best memory of him: a man of assiduous and profound prayer, of attentive listening and capable of human and spiritual support, as a pastor of priests and of the people of God, learned and prepared as a teacher of the faith and a good communicator of the Word of God, a friend and brother of priests, a visitor of the sick and an incomparable catechist."
There are three stages to be canonized: venerable, blessed, then saint. First, the pope must proclaim the person in question venerable, that is, having practiced to a heroic degree the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
To access the second stage, that of blessed, a miracle must be recognized (unless the candidate died as a martyr). Public worship of a blessed is permitted but most of the time is limited to a diocese, region, or religious family.
Finally, when a second miracle is recognized, the candidate can be canonized, and therefore be declared a saint. With canonization, the sentence is final, and worship is extended to the whole Church.
By the way, it is remarkable to see that most of the recent sovereign pontiffs have received the honor of the altars: John Paul II and John XXIII were canonized (declared saints) in 2014, as well as Paul VI in 2018. Of course, all popes are called "Holy Father", but not all popes have received the honors of canonization. Of all the popes who have led the Catholic Church (Francis being the 266th pope), only 81 have been declared saints — most of whom died as martyrs during the early centuries of the Church — and only 7 of them after the 10th century, the most recent being Paul VI, canonized in 2018, John Paul II and John XXIII, canonized in 2014, and Pius X (pope from 1903 to 1914), canonized in 1954. Before him, we must go back almost 400 years to see another canonized pope, Saint Pius V, pope from 1566 to 1572. It can therefore be said that the Church has been led in recent years by exceptional figures, and that God does not abandon His Church.
And among the popes of the last 110 years, three were patriarchs (archbishops) of Venice in Italy before becoming popes: Pius X (Joseph Sarto), John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli), and John Paul I (Albino Luciani). The life of John Paul I can also be compared in several points to that of Saint Pius X: Both came from poor families in Veneto, both entered the minor and then the major seminary of their rural diocese. Immediately after their ordination, they modestly became vicars and, after a few years, they were called to the episcopal curia. Joseph Sarto was named bishop at fifty, and Albino Luciani became bishop (of Vittorio Veneto) at forty-six. Bishop Sarto became Patriarch of Venice at fifty-eight, Bishop Luciani at fifty-seven. Cardinal Sarto became pope at sixty-eight, Cardinal Luciani at sixty-five.
Albino Luciani was born on October 17, 1912 in Canale d'Agordo, northern Italy. His father, Giovanni Luciani (1872-1952), was a seasonal worker then as a mason, with anticlerical socialist tendencies. From his father's first marriage to Rosa, who died of tuberculosis in 1906, five children were born: three sons, all of whom died immediately after childbirth and to whom the same name was given: Albino, and two daughters, both deaf-mutes: Amalia (1900-1938) and Pia (1902-1969), who became a nun.
His mother, Bortola Tancon (1879-1948), Giovanni's second wife, was on the other hand a devout Catholic who worked as a dishwasher at the Saints-John and Paul asylum in Venice. Albino had two brothers and one sister: Federico (1915-1916), who died at the age of one, Edoardo (1917-2008) who married Antonietta Marinelli with whom he had nine children, and Nina (1920-2209) who married Ettore Petri with whom she will have two children.
Albino's mother encouraged her son's early vocation. For a long time, Albino Luciani kept his father's letter, which gave him permission to enter the seminary: "I hope," says the letter, "that when you become a priest you will be on the side of the poor and the workers, because Christ was on their side". Albino therefore entered the minor seminary of Feltre, then the major seminary of Belluno. A brilliant student, he then joined the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. There he obtained a doctorate in theology, dealing with "the origin of the soul in the thought of Rosmini".
Albino Luciani was ordained a priest on July 7, 1935, and appointed vicar in his hometown. He taught at the Mining Technical Institute, then at the major seminary of Belluno, where he took over the chair of dogmatic theology. He became vice-director in 1937. In 1954, he became vicar general of the diocese of Belluno.
Appointed bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958, Albino Luciani was consecrated bishop in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on December 27 of the same year by Pope John XXIII himself. With him was also consecrated Charles Msaklia, a native of Tanzania; the two new bishops remained friends.
Like Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop Luciani chose Humilitas (humility) for his motto as bishop, which would indeed be a defining feature of the rest of his life. In his years as episcopate in Vittorio Veneto, Bishop Luciani first showed unequaled gifts as a catechist, for his ability to be understood by all, even by children and people of little culture, for his clarity in the presentation, his capacity for synthesis, and his tendency to avoid speeches and difficult readings, despite his deep culture. He also recommended the same to his priests.
On December 15, 1969, Archbishop Luciani became Patriarch (Archbishop) of Venice. Three years later, he took the vice-presidency of the Italian episcopal conference. On September 16, 1972, Patriarch Luciani received Pope Paul VI on a pastoral visit in Venice. At the end of the Mass in Piazza San Marco, in front of twenty thousand people, Paul VI took off his papal stole and laid it on the shoulders of Archbishop Luciani, in a gesture that seemed to be that of an investiture, saying to him: "You deserve it." Five months later, Luciani was created cardinal by Paul VI.
In January 1976, Bishop Luciani published Illustrissimi ("To the Illustrious Ones"), a collection of 40 imaginary letters (written between 1971 and 1975 and published monthly in the magazine "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio") addressed to saints, historical or literary personalities. The book was a great success and has been translated into many languages.
Cardinal Luciani left Venice for the last time on August 10, 1978, for the conclave which was to elect the successor of Paul VI. The conclave was very quick, ending after only four votes, which took place on the same day, and at 7:18 p.m. on August 26, 1978, the windows of the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica opened.
Immediately afterwards, the large red cloth with the papal coat of arms appears at the loggia, and Cardinal Protodeacon Pericle Felici announced in Latin the famous formula Habemus Papam (We have a Pope): Cardinal Albino Luciani… "qui sibi nomen imposuit Ioannis Pauli Primi" (who took the name of John Paul the First). Luciani had obtained 101 votes out of 111 in the fourth vote.
At the age of 65, Luciani took the name of John Paul I, in homage to his two immediate predecessors John XXIII, who had consecrated him a bishop, and Paul VI, who had created him a cardinal. This choice was made to everyone's surprise: you have to go back to the 10th century (with Pope Lando, who died in 914) to find a pope "inaugurating" a new reign name. Moreover, a double name (in this case, John and Paul) had never been used before.
Announcing the election with the traditional Habemus Papam, Cardinal Felici had also added the regnal number "I" after the name: Ioannis Pauli Primi — John Paul the First, and not just John Paul. It was Luciani himself who asked for it: in fact, normally the pontiff who chooses a pontifical name never used by one of his predecessors does not assume the ordinal number, which is only attributed to him posthumously (after his death), only when one of his successors chooses the same name. We need only think of the current pope, Francis, who himself made it clear that he wanted to be called only "Francis" and not "Francis the 1st".
In his first Urbi et Orbi radio message on Sunday, August 27, 1978, John Paul I defined the program of his pontificate as follows:
— We wish to preserve the integrity of the great discipline of the Church in the life of priests and of the faithful. It is a rich treasure in history. Throughout the ages, it has presented an example of holiness and heroism, both in the exercise of the evangelical virtues and in service to the poor, the humble, the defenceless. To achieve that, we place a priority on the revision of the two codes of canon law; that of the oriental tradition and that of the Latin tradition to assure the blessed liberty of the children of God, through the solidarity and firmness of juridical structures.
— We wish to remind the entire Church that its first duty is that of evangelization. Our Predecessor, Paul VI, presented the directions for this in his memorable document: animated by faith, nourished by the Word of God, and strengthened by the heavenly food of the Eucharist, one should study every way, seek every means "in season and out of season" (2 Tim 4:2), to spread the Word, to proclaim the message, to announce that salvation which creates in the soul a restlessness to pursue truth and, at the same time, offers strength from above. If all the sons and daughters of the Church know how to be tireless missionaries of the Gospel, a new flowering of holiness and renewal would spring up in this world that thirsts for love and for truth.
Here is how John Paul I described the day of his election, and the feelings animating it, during the Angelus of August 27, 1978:
"Yesterday morning I went to the Sistine Chapel to vote tranquilly. Never could I have imagined what was about to happen. As soon as the danger for me had begun, the two colleagues who were beside me whispered words of encouragement. One said:'Courage! If the Lord gives a burden, he also gives the strength to carry it.'Another colleague said:'Don't be afraid; there are so many people in the whole world who are praying for the new pope.'When the moment of decision came, I accepted.
"Then there was the question of the name, for they also ask what name you wish to take, and I had thought little about it. My thoughts ran along these lines: Pope John had decided to consecrate me himself in St Peter's Basilica. Then, however unworthy, I succeeded him in Venice on the Chair of St Mark, in that Venice which is still full of Pope John. He is remembered by the gondoliers, the Sisters, everyone.
"Then Pope Paul not only made me a cardinal, but some months earlier, on the wide footbridge in St Mark's Square, he made me blush to the roots of my hair in the presence of 20,000 people, because he removed his stole and placed it on my shoulders. Never have I blushed so much! Furthermore, during his fifteen years of pontificate, this Pope has shown, not only to me but to the whole world, how to love, how to serve, how to labour and to suffer for the Church of Christ.
"For that reason I said:'I shall be called John Paul.'I have neither the'wisdom of the heart'of Pope John, nor the preparation and culture of Pope Paul, but I am in their place. I must seek to serve the Church. I hope that you will help me with your prayers."
From the very beginning of his pontificate, John Paul I strived to humanize the pontifical office by expressing himself in the first person (I), abandoning the "we" of majesty. Similarly, he refused, on the day of his enthronement, to wear the tiara, to which he preferred a simple bishop's miter and the presentation of the pallium.
John Paul I was immediately loved by Catholics, touched by his simplicity, who nicknamed him "the smiling pope", and by his style of preaching which, while remaining simple, touched hearts. Here, for example, are excerpts from his first "catechesis," or Wednesday audience as pope, on September 6, 1978, which he concluded by emphasizing the importance of remaining humble:
"Just a month ago, Paul VI died at Castelgandolfo. In fifteen years he rendered enormous service to the Church. The effects are partly seen now already, but I think that they will be seen especially in the future. Every Wednesday he came here and spoke to the people. At the 1977 Synod, several bishops said:'Pope Paul's Wednesday addresses are a real catechesis adapted to the modern world.'I will try to imitate him, in the hope that I, too, will be able, somehow, to help people to become better.
"To be good, however, it is necessary to be in place before God, before our neighbour and before ourselves. Before God, the right position is that of Abraham, who said: "I am only dust and ashes before You, O Lord!" We must feel small before God. When I say, "Lord I believe" I am not ashamed to feel like a child before his mother; one believes in one's mother; I believe in the Lord, in what He has revealed to me.
"The Commandments are a little more difficult to observe; but God gave them to us not to satisfy a whim, not in his own interest, but solely in our interest. Once a man went to buy a motorcar from the agent. The latter talked to him plainly:'Look here, it's a good car; mind that you treat it well: premium petrol in the tank, and for the joints, oil the good stuff.'But the other replied:'Oh, no, for your information, I can't stand even the smell of petrol, nor oil; I'll put champagne, which I like so much, in the tank and I'll oil the joints with jam''Do what you like: but don't come and complain if you end up in a ditch with your car!'The Lord did something similar with us: he gave us this body, animated by an intelligent soul, a good will. He said,'This machine is a good one, but treat it well."
"Here are the Commandments. Honour your father and your mother; do not kill; do not get angry; be gentle; do not tell lies; do not steal... If we were able to observe the Commandments, we would be better off, and so would the world. Then there is our neighbour... But our neighbour is at three levels: some are above us; some are at our level; some are below. Above, there are our parents. The catechism said: respect them, love them, obey them. The Pope must instil respect and obedience in children for their parents. (…)
"And besides our parents, there is the State, there are superiors. May the Pope recommend obedience? Bossuet, who was a great bishop, wrote:'Where no one commands, everyone commands. Where everyone commands, no one commands any longer, but chaos.'Sometimes something similar is seen in this world too. So let us respect those who are our superiors.
"Then there are our equals. And here, there are usually two virtues to observe: justice and charity. But charity is the soul of justice. We must love our neighbour; the Lord recommended it so much. I always recommend not only great acts of charity, but little ones. I read in a book, written by Carnegie, an American, entitled'How to Make Friends', the following little episode:
"A lady had four men in the house: her husband, a brother, two grown-up sons. She alone had to do the shopping, the washing, the ironing and the cooking: everything all alone. One Sunday they come home. The table is laid for dinner, but on the plate there is only a handful of hay.'Oh!', the others protest and say:'What! Hay!'And she says,'No, everything is ready. Let me tell you: I prepare your food, I keep you clean, I do everything. Never once have you said: That was a good dinner you made for us. But say something! I'm not made of stone.'People work more willingly when their work is recognized. These are the little acts of charity. In our home we all have some one who is waiting for a compliment.
"There are those who are smaller than we are; there are children, the sick, even sinners. As Bishop, I was very close even to those who do not believe in God. I formed the idea that they often combat not God, but the mistaken idea they have of God. How much mercy it is necessary to have! And even those who err.... We must really be in place with ourselves. I will just recommend one virtue so dear to the Lord. He said,'Learn from Me who am meek and humble of heart.'
"I run the risk of making a blunder, but I will say it: the Lord loves humility so much that, sometimes, He permits serious sins. Why? In order that those who committed these sins may, after repenting, remain humble. One does not feel inclined to think oneself half a saint, half an angel, when one knows that one has committed serious faults. The Lord recommended it so much: be humble. Even if you have done great things, say:'We are useless servants.'On the contrary, the tendency in all of us is rather the contrary: to show off. Lowly, lowly: this is the Christian virtue which concerns ourselves.
For the next three audiences, on Wednesdays September 13, 20 and 27, John Paul I developed the theme of the theological virtues, the first three virtues of the "seven lamps of sanctification", according to the expression of Pope John XXIII. Here are excerpts from the September 13 audience:
"Pope John, in a note of his, which was also published, said:'This time I made the retreat on the Seven Lamps of Sanctification.'Seven virtues, he meant, that is, faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. Who knows if the Holy Spirit will help the poor Pope today to illustrate at least one or these lamps, the first one, faith…
"That is what faith is: to surrender to God, by transforming one's life. A thing that is not always easy! Augustine has told of the journey of his faith; especially in the last few weeks it was terrible; while reading, one feels his soul almost shudder and wither in interior conflicts. On the one hand, God calls him and insists; on the other hand, his old habits,'old friends', he writes,'and they pulled me gently by my mantle of flesh, and they said to me: Augustine, what! You are abandoning us? Look out, you won't be able to do this any more; you won't be able ever again to do that other." A hard thing!'I felt', he says,'like one who is in bed, in the morning." He is told: "Out, Augustine, get up! Finally the Lord gave me a sharp tug, and I came out.'You see, one must not say:'Yes, but; yes, but later.'One must say:'Yes, Lord! At once!'This is faith. To respond to the Lord generously. But who says this'yes'? He who is humble and trusts God completely!
"My mother used to tell me when I was a boy:'When you were little, you were very ill. I had to take you from one doctor to another and watch over you whole nights. Do you believe me?'How could I have said:'I don't believe you, Mamma?'Of course I believe, I believe what you tell me, but I believe especially in you.'And so it is in faith. It is not just a question of believing in the things that God revealed, but in Him who deserves our faith, who has loved us so much and done so much for our sake.
"It is also difficult to accept some truths, because the truths of faith are of two kinds; some pleasant, others unpalatable to our spirit. (…) And there is a last difficulty, the Church. St Paul asked:'Who are you, Lord?'—'I am that Jesus whom you are persecuting'. A light, a flash, crossed his mind. I do not persecute Jesus, I don't even know him: I persecute the Christians. It is clear that Jesus and the Christians, Jesus and the Church are the same thing: indissoluble, inseparable.
"Read St Paul:'Corpus Christi quod est Ecclesia'. Christ and the Church are only one thing. Christ is the Head. We, the Church, are His limbs. It is not possible to have faith and to say,'I believe in Jesus, I accept Jesus but I do not accept the Church.'We must accept the Church as she is. And what is this Church like? Pope John called her'Mater et Magistra'. Teacher also. St Paul said:'Let everyone accept us as Christ's aids and stewards and dispensers of His mysteries.'
"When the poor Pope, when the bishops, the priests, propose the doctrine, they are merely helping Christ. It is not our doctrine; it is Christ's. We must just guard it and present it. I was present when Pope John opened the Council on October 11, 1962. At a certain point he said:'We hope that with the Council the Church will take a leap forward.'
"We all hoped so, but a leap forward, on what way? He told us at once: on certain and immutable truths. It never even occurred to Pope John that the truths could go forward, and then, gradually, change. Those are the truths: we must walk along the way of these truths, understanding them more and more, bringing ourselves up-to-date, proposing them in a form suited to the new times. (…)
"The Church is also a mother. If she continues Christ, and Christ is good, the Church too must be good, good to everyone. But if by chance there should sometimes be bad people in the Church, we have our mother. If mother is sick, if my mother by chance should become lame, I love her even more. It is the same in the Church. If there are, and there are, defects and shortcomings, our affection for the Church must never fail. Yesterday, and I conclude, I was sent the issue of'Città Nuova'. I saw that they have reported, recording it, a very short address of mine, with an episode.
"A certain British preacher, named MacNabb, speaking in Hyde Park, had spoken of the Church. When he finished, someone asked to speak and said:'Yours are fine words. But I know some Catholic priests who did not stay with the poor, and became rich. I know also Catholic husbands who have betrayed their wives. I do not like this Church made of sinners.'The Father said:'There's something in what you say. But may I make an objection?'—'Let's hear it.'—He says:'Excuse me, but am I mistaken or is the collar of your shirt a little greasy?'—He says:'Yes, it is, I admit.'—'But is it greasy because you haven't used soap, or because you used soap but it was no use?''No', he says,'I haven't used soap.'
"You see. The Catholic Church too has extraordinary soap: the gospel, the sacraments, prayer. The gospel read and lived; the sacraments celebrated in the right way; prayer well used, would be a marvellous soap, capable of making us all saints. We are not all saints because we have not used this soap enough. Let us try to meet the hopes of the Popes who held and applied the Council: Pope John and Pope Paul. Let us try to improve the Church by becoming better ourselves. Each of us and the whole Church could recite the prayer I am accustomed to recite: 'Lord take me as I am, with my defects, with my shortcomings, but make me become what You want me to be.'
On Wednesday, September 27 — the day before his death — John Paul I granted his last general audience — and last public appearance — on the topic of charity:
"My God, with all my heart, above all things, I love You, infinite good and our eternal happiness, and for Your sake I love my neighbour as myself and forgive offences received. Oh Lord, may I love You more and more.
"This is a very well-known prayer, embellished with biblical phrases. My mother taught it to me. I recite it several times a day even now, and I will try to explain it to you, word by word, as a parish catechist would do. We are at Pope John's'third lamp of sanctification': charity. I love. (…)
"To love means travelling, rushing with one›s heart towards the object loved. The Imitation of Christ says: he who loves runs, flies and rejoices. To love God is therefore a journeying with one›s heart to God. A wonderful journey! When I was a boy, I was thrilled by the journeys described by Jules Verne. But the journeys of love for God are far more interesting. You read them in the lives of the saints. St. Vincent de Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, for example, is a giant of charity: he loved God more than a father and a mother, and he himself was a father for prisoners, sick people, orphans and the poor. (…)
"The journey also brings sacrifices, but these must not stop us. Jesus is on the cross: you want to kiss Him? You cannot help bending over the cross and letting yourself be pricked by a few thorns of the crown on the Lord's head (cf. St Francis de Sales Œuvres). You cannot cut the figure of good St. Peter, who had no difficulty in shouting'Long live Jesus'on Mount Tabor, where there was joy, but did not even let himself be seen beside Jesus at Mount Calvary, where there was risk and suffering.
"It is easy to love some persons; difficult to love others; we do not find them likeable, they have offended us and hurt us; only if I love God in earnest can I love them as sons of God, and because He asks me to. Jesus also established how to love one's neighbour: that is, not only with feeling, but with facts. This is the way, He said. I will ask you: I was hungry in the person of my humbler brothers, did you give me food? Did you visit me, when I was sick (cf. Mt 25:34 ff).
"The catechism puts these and other words of the Bible in the double list of the seven corporal works of mercy and the seven spiritual ones. The list is not complete, and it would be necessary to update it. Among the starving, for example, today, it is no longer a question just of this or that individual; there are whole peoples.
"We all remember the great words of Pope Paul VI:'Today the peoples in hunger are making a dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance. The Church shudders at this cry of anguish and calls each one to give a loving response of charity to this brother's cry for help" (Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 3). At this point, justice is added to charity, because, Paul VI says also,'Private property does not constitute for anyone an absolute and unconditioned right. No one is justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does not need, when others lack necessities'(ibid, 23). Consequently'every exhausting armaments race becomes an intolerable scandal'(ibid, 53).
"In the light of these strong expressions, it can be seen how far we—individuals and peoples—still are from loving others'as ourselves', as Jesus commanded. Another Commandment: I forgive offences received. It almost seems that the Lord gives precedence to this forgiveness over worship:'So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift'(Mt 5:23-24).
"The last words of the prayer are: Lord, may I love You more and more. Here, too, there is obedience to a Commandment of God, who put thirst for progress in our hearts. From pile-dwellings, caves and the first huts, we have passed to houses, apartment buildings and skyscrapers; from journeys on foot, on the back of a mule or of a camel, to coaches, trains and airplanes. And people desire to progress further with more and more rapid means of transport, reaching more and more distant goals. But to love God, we have seen, is also a journey: God wants it to be more and more intense and perfect. He said to all His followers:'You are the light of the world, the salt of the earth'(Mt 5:13-14);'You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect'(Mt 5:48). That means: to love God not a little, but so much; not to stop at the point at which we have arrived, but with his help, to progress in love.
As we can see, the pontificate of John Paul I announced great things; however, his brief reign did not allow him to carry out large-scale actions. Indeed, John Paul I died on the night of September 28, 1978 of a myocardial infarction (according to the official version), two weeks before his 66th birthday. His body was found at 5 a.m. by Sister Vincenza Taffarel: sitting on his bed, the bedside lamp on, he was wearing his reading glasses and holding a few sheets of paper in his hands.
Rumors began to circulate as soon as his death was announced, amplified by the fact that the body of the late pope will never be autopsied (which would have put an end to all the rumors). Thus, in 1984, in a controversial book entitled In God's Name, British journalist David Yallop claimed that Pope John Paul I, wanting to put order in the Curia and in the finances of the Vatican, would have been poisoned on the orders of Cardinal Villot and Bishop Paul Marcinkus, head of the Vatican bank. We will only know the truth at the Last Judgment.
In an interview given in August 1988 to the Italian monthly magazine "Trenta Giorni", Brazilian Franciscan Cardinal Aloísio Lorscheider, a longtime friend of Cardinal Luciani, then Patriarch of Venice, said: "I am not interested in things that have been written, nor by all the literature that flourished around his (John Paul I's) death. However, I say this with sadness, suspicion remains in our hearts; it's like a bitter shadow, a question that hasn't been fully answered." And the cardinal added in the same interview that he was certain that one day John Paul I would be raised to the honors of the altars.
After the death of John Paul I, the Polish cardinal of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, was elected pope. Here is what he said during his first general audience, on October 25, 1978:
"When the Holy Father John Paul I spoke to participants in the General Audience on Wednesday, September 27, no one could imagine that it was for the last time. His death—after thirty-three days of pontificate—surprised the whole world and filled it with a deep sense of loss. He who brought forth such great joy in the Church and inspired such hope in men's hearts, consummated and terminated his mission, in such a short time. In his death the words so often repeated in the Gospel came true:'... be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect'(Mt 24:44). John Paul I always kept watch. The Lord's call did not take him by surprise. He followed it with the same trembling joy with which he had accepted the election to St. Peter's throne on 26 August."
And here is what Pope Benedict XVI said during the Angelus on September 28, 2008, exactly thirty years after the death of John Paul I:
"In reflecting on (today's) biblical texts, I immediately thought of Pope John Paul I, the 30th anniversary of whose death we are commemorating today. John Paul I chose as his episcopal motto the same motto as St Charles Borromeo, namely: Humilitas. This single word sums up the essential of Christian life and indicates the indispensable virtue of those in the Church who are called to the service of authority…
"Humility can be considered his spiritual testament. Because of this virtue of his, it only took 33 days for Pope Luciani to win people's hearts. In his addresses, he always referred to events in practical life, from his family memories and from popular wisdom. His simplicity was a vehicle for a solid, rich teaching which, thanks to the gift of an exceptional memory and a vast knowledge, he embellished with numerous citations from ecclesiastical and secular writers.
"Thus, he was an incomparable catechist, following in the footsteps of St. Pius X, who came from the same region and was his Predecessor first on the throne of St. Mark and then on that of St. Peter.'We must feel small before God,'he said during the same audience. And he added,'I am not ashamed to feel like a child before his mother; one believes in one's mother; I believe in the Lord, in what He has revealed to me'.
"These words reveal the full depth of his faith. As we thank God for having given him to the Church and to the world, let us treasure his example, striving to cultivate his same humility which enabled him to talk to everyone, especially the small and the'distant'. For this, let us invoke Mary Most Holy, the humble Handmaid of the Lord."
On November 9, 2017, Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of John Paul I, thus declaring him venerable, the first step before beatification, which requires a miracle due to the intercession of John Paul I.
On October 13, 2021, Pope Francis recognized the miraculous nature of the healing of an 11-year-old Argentinian girl, Candela Cardia, in 2011 attributed to the intercession of John Paul I, and signed the decree allowing his beatification.
It is March 20, 2011. On this day, Candela begins to suffer from a violent headache which persists for a week. On March 27, she reached a new stage in pain and fever, vomiting. Behavioral and speech disorders appeared. Rushed to Paraná Hospital, she underwent a battery of tests to find out what she was suffering from. The diagnosis falls, chillingly, that Candela Giarda is suffering from "severe acute inflammatory encephalopathy, malignant refractory epilepsy and septic shock". Suffering daily from epileptic seizures, the doctors decided to intubate her. "Within hours she was in a coma, on a respirator," her mother Roxana said. "She had seizures, and none of the drugs the doctors tested worked."
Without any improvement in her state of health, Candela was transferred on May 26, 2011 to the Favaloro Foundation, in Buenos Aires, in the intensive care unit. On July 22, 2011, doctors decided to summon the family to prepare them for the possibility of imminent death. "We can't do anything else; Candela is going to die tonight," a doctor told the girl's mother that night.
Disoriented, cornered, Candela's mother decided to stop at the parish of Our Lady of Mercy in the neighborhood of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, located a few meters from the clinic. She had already met Father José Dabusti there, who very attached to the "smiling pope" and who accompanied her throughout this ordeal. "That night I came in and asked him to come to see my daughter," Roxana says. "When he approached Candela's bed, he prayed, told me to put my hands on her and entrusted her to Pope John Paul I." Their prayers were joined by those of all the nursing staff present in intensive care.
A few hours after having invoked John Paul I and four months after the appearance of the first symptoms, on July 23, 2011, the condition of the young girl began to evolve favorably. The medical profession noted a rapid improvement in the septic shock which continued with the subsequent restoration of "hemodynamic and respiratory stability", specified the decree. On August 8, the little girl was no longer intubated, on August 25 her epilepsy disappeared, and on September 5 Candela left the hospital with a simple prescription. She was miraculously cured.
On September 4, 2022, John Paul I was beatified by Pope Francis in Saint Peter's Square, in the presence of around 25,000 faithful, and nearly 400 cardinals, bishops and priests who concelebrated the liturgy with the Pope. On the facade of the Vatican Basilica, one could see the tapestry with the portrait of the new blessed, made by Chinese artist Yan Zhang. The tomb of John Paul I, like that of Saint Paul VI, remains in the Vatican Grottos, under St. Peter's Basilica. The liturgical memorial for the feast of Blessed John Paul I is celebrated on August 26, the day of his election as Sovereign Pontiff.
Here, in conclusion, are a few words from Pope Francis'homily for the beatification of John Paul I:
"Dear brothers and sisters, our new Blessed lived that way: in the joy of the Gospel, without compromises, loving to the very end. He embodied the poverty of the disciple, which is not only detachment from material goods, but also victory over the temptation to put oneself at the centre, to seek one's own glory. On the contrary, following the example of Jesus, he was a meek and humble pastor. He thought of himself as dust on which God deigned to write. That is why he could say:'The Lord recommended it so much: be humble. Even if you have done great things, say: We are useless servants'(General Audience, September 6, 1978).
"With a smile, Pope John Paul managed to communicate the goodness of the Lord… Let us pray to him, our father and our brother, and ask him to obtain for us'the smile of the soul', a transparent smile that does not deceive, the smile of the soul. Let us pray, in his own words:'Lord take me as I am, with my defects, with my shortcomings, but make me become what You want me to be'(General Audience, September 13, 1978). Amen.
Alain Pilote has been the editor of the English edition of MICHAEL for several years. Twice a year we organize a week of study of the social doctrine of the Church and its application and Mr. Pilote is the instructor during these sessions.
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