In the midst of a downpour on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis beatified John Paul I, a pope who served as such for just 33 days.
John Paul I “embodied the poverty of a disciple” via his “victory over the temptation to place oneself at the centre, to seek one’s own glory,” according to Pope Francis in his homily at the rainy beatification Mass on September 4.
John Paul I, sometimes known as “the smiling pope,” passed quite suddenly on September 28, 1978, one month after the conclave that chose him.
John Paul I established a reputation for humility and his commitment to explaining the faith simply during one of the shortest pontificates in papal history.
Cardinals listened as Pope Francis read the decree allowing local veneration of Pope John Paul I on August 26 while standing in the rain while wearing yellow and white umbrellas.
“With a grin, Pope John Paul I managed to express the kindness of the Lord,” Francis added.
“How wonderful is a Church with a joyful, calm, and smiling countenance, that never shuts doors, never hardens hearts, never complains or harbours anger, does not get agitated or impatient, does not seem sombre, or has longing for the past. Let us ask him to secure for us “the smile of the soul” in our prayers to him, our father and brother.
As the pope’s postulator made his way into the piazza carrying a relic—a handwritten letter by the blessed pope on theological virtues—during the beatification, a big banner atop St. Peter’s Basilica showed a photo of Blessed Pope John Paul I.
In his four public audiences as pope, John Paul I delivered catecheses on poverty, faith, hope, and charity. Throughout his speech, Pope Francis used passages from these catechisms.
As Pope John Paul I put it, “you cannot help bending over the cross and letting yourself be pricked by a few thorns of the crown on the Lord’s head” if you want to kiss the crucified Jesus (General Audience, 27 September 1978). Pope Francis remarked, “A love that endures to the end, thorns and all: no leaving things half done, no taking shortcuts, no running from challenges.
The most recent pope to be born in Italy was John Paul I, who was also the first pope to be born in the 20th century. The future Pope John Paul I was born Albino Luciani on October 17, 1912, and grew up in the northern Veneto area of Italy amid relative poverty.
He was ordained as a priest in 1935 for the Italian diocese of Belluno e Feltre at the age of 22. He taught classes in moral theology, canon law, and sacred art during his ten years as the diocese’s seminary’s rector.
As the bishop of Vittorio Veneto, he attended every session of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), and in the decade that followed, as patriarch of Venice, he strove to put the council’s directives into practise.
In his capacity as a cardinal, Luciani issued a number of “open letters” to saints, historical people, authors, and fictitious characters. Letters to Jesus, King David, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Christopher Marlowe, Pinocchio, and Figaro, the barber of Seville were featured in the book Illustrissimi.
After his two immediate predecessors, Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, he created history in 1978 by becoming the first pope to use a double name. “Humilitas” was his episcopal motto.
John Paul I prayed, “Lord take me as I am, with my faults, with my weaknesses, but make me into what you want me to be,” just before he passed away at age 65.
By the time the beatification ceremony was through, the rain had stopped, and Pope Francis said the Latin Angelus. He claimed to be praying for harmony in “martyred Ukraine.”
At the conclusion of the Mass, Pope Francis personally greeted several of the cardinals, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, from his wheelchair. He also rode the popemobile to meet the audience.
Pope John Paul I once said, “We are the objects of God’s unfailing affection” (Angelus, 10 September 1978). An unending love never disappears from the horizon of our existence; it always shines upon us and lights up even the darkest of nights, according to Pope Francis.
“When we look upon the Crucified Lord, we are invited to the heights of that love, to be cleansed of our warped conceptions of God and our self-centeredness, and to love God and others, in the Church and society, even those who do not see things as we do, to love even our adversaries.”