(Pope August 26, 1978 to September 28, 1978)
Albino Luciani was born of a poor family on October 17, 1912, in Forno di Canale, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1935. Appointed deputy director of the seminary in the Belluno diocese, he taught moral theology, canon law and sacred art. He earned a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1947 and was made vicar-general of his diocese the following year. He remained concerned with the teaching of Church doctrine and wrote Catechetica in bricole (“Catechism in Crumbs”, 1949) to provide instruction for the less educated.
In 1958, Luciani was appointed Bishop of Vittorio Veneto. He was made Archbishop of Venice in 1969 and became a cardinal in 1973. In 1976 he published Illustrissimi (“To the Illustrious Ones”), a compilation of imaginary letters addressed both to and from historical figures such as Jesus, Mark Twain and to fictional characters such as those in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers.
Luciani was elected pope on August 26, 1978, becoming the first pope since Pius X (Pope 1903 – 1914) to have a pastoral rather than a diplomatic or scholarly background. Luciani also was a man who liked to break from traditions. He took the double name John Paul in commemoration of his two immediate predecessors, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. He also opted to suffix his papal name with the Roman numeral “I”, the first. Historically, the first pope to adopt a given name did not affix a numeral after the name. For example, our current Pope goes by Pope Francis, not by Pope Francis I. Pope John Paul I was the first pope in centuries who refused to be crowned, opting instead for a simple pallium of an archbishop. None of the Popes who followed him has been crowned. He was known affectionately as “the Smiling Pope” on account of the smile he often displayed in public.
John Paul I’s papacy lasted only 33 days, the 10th shortest of all time, and the briefest since Leon XI’s papacy in the early 17th century. His sudden death, the apparent result of a heart attack, led to rumors of foul play that persist until today.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!