Pope John Paul I’s Legacy Is Rediscovered

ANALYSIS: What made the 34-day papacy of Albino Luciani so special?

Pope John Paul I greets a priest in this undated file photo. Born Oct. 17, 1912, in Italy’s northern Veneto region, Albino Luciani was elected Pope Aug. 26, 1978, and took a double name after his two immediate predecessors, St. John XXIII and Bl. Paul VI.
Pope John Paul I greets a priest in this undated file photo. Born Oct. 17, 1912, in Italy’s northern Veneto region, Albino Luciani was elected Pope Aug. 26, 1978, and took a double name after his two immediate predecessors, St. John XXIII and Bl. Paul VI. (photo: CNA / Vatican Media )

VENICE, Italy — Quick: Name a pope known for lifelong personal humility and a core commitment to the poor and marginalized among us — a man not expected to ascend the throne of Peter. 

Many will surely answer “Pope Francis,” but the description is also true of Blessed Pope John Paul I, who took the name John Paul I when elected vicar of Christ on Aug. 26, 1978. He died only 33 days later, on Sept. 28. 

Forty years after publication of a best-selling bombshell falsely claiming John Paul I was murdered for initiating Vatican financial reform — David Yallop’s 1984 book-length conspiracy In God’s Name sold more than six million copies — the fog is clearing on this papacy.

In the Doge’s Palace in Venice on May 17 and in Rome, at Gregorian University last Nov. 24, illustrious gatherings marked the reassembly of John Paul I’s library, partially dispersed after his death, and the release of a new edition of Illustrissimi  (To the Illustrious Ones), an unusual catechism comprised of 40 letters written by Luciani to famous figures, both historical (Charles Dickens, St. Teresa of Avila, Jesus) and fictional (Pinocchio). 

Illustrissimi was published in 1976 while Cardinal Luciani served as patriarch of Venice (1970-1978). An English-language translation came out before his selection as pope. The letters originally appeared as a series in a Catholic periodical.

What makes Albino Luciani’s 34-day pontificate special? Why would Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin press “pause” on the Church’s global diplomatic endeavor to appear at multiple John Paul I book events — this year and last year, too? I asked myself these questions while attending the conferences dedicated to Illustrissimi.

Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin participated on a panel dedicated to John Paul I's reassembled library and the pope's book Illustrissimi at the Doge's Palace in Venice on May 17, 2024.
Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin participated on a panel dedicated to John Paul I's reassembled library and the pope's book Illustrissimi at the Doge's Palace in Venice on May 17, 2024.(Photo: Victor Gaetan )


 


Not a ‘Shooting Star’

Cardinal Parolin heads the John Paul I Vatican Foundation, established in 2020 by the Holy Father to promote Blessed John Paul’s cultural and spiritual legacy. He shares with Pope John Paul I several personal attributes: They both grew up in the Veneto region of northern Italy in families of modest means; Cardinal Parolin’s father managed a hardware store, while John Paul’s worked as a laborer in Italy, Argentina, Austria, France and Germany. The Church cultivated the natural intellectual and linguistic skills of these men, who both graduated from Pontifical Gregorian University.

Encouraged by his mother, Luciani was reading voraciously by age 7, including foreign authors such as Mark Twain. 

Albino Luciani approximately at the age of 10, c. 1922–23
Albino Luciani approximately at the age of 10, c. 1922–23. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons )

Luciani went to minor seminary at age 11 and was ordained a priest at age 22. Gifted with a prodigious memory, he spoke five languages (English, French, German, Latin and Portuguese) besides Italian. Had he not had an early vocation, he would have been a journalist, he confided. 

Cardinal Parolin described John Paul I as a “sharp and open intellect.” 

He noted that while the letters in Illustrissimi are simple and accessible to all readers, they reflect deep theological truths — no surprise considering Luciani taught dogmatic theology for 17 years. Cardinal Parolin believes the patriarch of Venice was elevated because the August 1978 conclave was seeking a true pastor, close to the people yet unintimidated by those with power.  

Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin spoke at a conference dedicated to John Paul I's reassembled library and the pope's book Illustrissimi at Pontifical Gregorian University on November 24, 2023
Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin spoke at a conference dedicated to John Paul I's reassembled library and the pope's book Illustrissimi at Pontifical Gregorian University on November 24, 2023

According to Cardinal Parolin, despite John Paul I’s abbreviated reign, he outlined eight essential priorities, rooted in the Second Vatican Council (where he was an enthusiastic participant for all four sessions): a return to Gospel sources; the missionary spirit of the early Church; collegiality among Church leaders; clerical poverty in service to the poor; dialogue with the world; interfaith collaboration; a search for Christian unity; and relentless commitment to peace. These have been carried forward by each pope since.

Although he had little diplomatic experience, Blessed John Paul immediately engaged in two international peace efforts with long-term implications: At the Sept. 10 Angelus, he offered a bold ecumenical prayer for Camp David negotiations involving Israel and Egypt (Sept. 5-17, one-third of John Paul I’s pontificate) and wrote encouragingly to U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He also jumped into a tense standoff between Argentina and Chile. Oddly, he also received Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikodim, who fell dead at his feet during a private audience on Sept. 4.  

Cardinal Pietro Parolin chats with Victor Gaetan on the sidelines of the conference.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin chats with Victor Gaetan on the sidelines of the conference. (Photo: Victor Gaetan )

“His short pontificate was not a shooting star, which flairs out after a brief journey,” wrote Cardinal Parolin in his introduction to The September Pope: The Final Days of John Paul I (Our Sunday Visitor, 2021) by Stefania Falasca, postulator of John Paul I’s cause for canonization and vice president of the John Paul I Vatican Foundation.

 


Natural Death

Falasca’s book was first published in 2017 as Papa Luciani: Cronica di un Morte (Chronicle of a Death). It’s a definitive account of Blessed John Paul’s death of natural causes, based on a detailed investigation, including review of medical records never made public and never-before-reported testimony from Sister Margherita Marin, one of Sisters of the Holy Child Mary nuns who entered the Pope’s bedroom when he failed to emerge for morning Mass. (Sister Margherita attended the Gregorian University’s Luciani conference.) 

Victor Gaetan chats with Sister Margherita Marin at the Gregorian University conference. She found John Paul I dead in his bed on September 28, 1978.
Victor Gaetan chats with Sister Margherita Marin at the Gregorian University conference. She found John Paul I dead in his bed on September 28, 1978.(Photo: Victor Gaetan )

“The distortion of Luciani’s death obscured the importance of his message for 40 years,” Falasca told the Register following the Illustrissimi conference in Venice. “An invented story substituted for the real story.”

She continued, “The story was fabricated by David Yallop, who had a great style for invention, like Dan Brown later. It’s especially an Anglo-American noir narrative. With Luciani’s premature death, all the elements were there for a thriller, but it was not an approach based on facts and logic, which is what I tried to do.”

She helped lead a team that spent 10 years documenting every aspect of Albino Luciani’s life as part of the required research for canonization, a process approved in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who declared his predecessor “Servant of God” a year later. 

A member of the team is Lina Petri, John Paul I’s niece. Lina was a medical student in Rome when her mother’s brother was elected pope. She made it to the Apostolic Palace on Sept. 28, in time to sit and pray at her uncle’s feet, in the bedroom where he died. Petri attended the two Illustrissimi book events. 

She describes an uncle who was affectionate and attentive in an email to the Register. He was bishop of Vittorio Veneto when he gave her the sacrament of confirmation in 1965. “He gave me a small book of Pinocchio, which I still have, and another, Saints and Animals, which told episodes of saints who were friends of animals. I have read and reread it a thousand times.” 

Lina Petri (John Paul I's niece), Flavia Tudini (Vatican archivist), Stefania Falasca (Postulator), at John Paul I Vatican Foundation with boxes of documents
Lina Petri (John Paul I's niece), Flavia Tudini (Vatican archivist), Stefania Falasca (Postulator), at John Paul I Vatican Foundation with boxes of documents. (Photo: Victor Gaetan )

Petri continued, “For many of us … he was a lighthouse and guide in our youth. Discreet but always available to listen to our lives and our problems and to offer us advice and help. In 1975, I came to Rome for university so the opportunities to see him increased. We had a very open dialogue about personal problems, about society, about the Church.”

 


Elective Affinity: Bergoglio and Luciani 

The Holy Spirit beautifully animates aspects of this story, especially the intersection of Luciani and Bergoglio, Italy and Argentina.

As a Ph.D. candidate studying Italian literature, Falasca decided to write her dissertation on Illustrissimi — after overcoming the skepticism of a professor supervising her research who was dubious that John Paul’s letters were literary at all.

“I was fascinated by how Luciani managed to write on such a range of topics, using very creative language, a language that’s concrete and absolutely real. It’s an unusual style, especially for a bishop at the time,” Falasca explained. “I was also fascinated by the idea that a pope could be so entranced with trends in universal literature.”

Working on her dissertation, one of the few studies of Blessed John Paul’s writing, increased Falasca’s appreciation of his spirituality. Considering his vast erudition, she concluded that his accessible style was a theological choice. 

While engaged in this academic research, she met Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, first in Rome, in 2002, and then five years later in Buenos Aires. 

“I asked him, ‘Who are the popes you admire?’” remembers Falasca, “and he said, ‘John XXIII and John Paul I,’ but he had not read Illustrissimi, so I sent it to him,” together with the first part of her dissertation and a related lecture.

According to the postulator, Cardinal Bergoglio, too, was moved by John Paul’s language, valuing his informal style and humor. 

“He found Luciani reminiscent of the ancient Church, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, yet very contemporary. He identified with Luciani’s attitude that truth must be said in a way that it is understandable; otherwise, it is not truth anymore,” explained Falasca.

She believes Cardinal Bergoglio probably recognized himself in what he was reading: “They never met each other in person, but they have an elective affinity. Their positions are very similar because they are impregnated with Vatican II.”

Fast-forward to 2017. When Falasca presented the extensive documentation regarding John Paul I’s holiness to Pope Francis, he said, “There’s no hurry” for beatification. A year later, he canonized Pope Paul VI.

In 2021, Falasca went back to the Pope, presenting the case for beatification, including a breathtaking miracle in Argentina. The time was ripe.

“After he reviewed everything, he said, ‘Okay, John Paul I can stop being the Cinderella of 20th-century popes!’ He appreciated that we did all this work to bring Luciani out of the shadows.”