Bl. John Paul I
John Paul I was born Albino Luciani on 17 October 1912 in Forno di Canale, in the Veneto, and was Patriarch of Venice before his election to the papacy on 26 August 1978. He took an unprecedented double name to honour his two immediate predecessors — John XXIII, who had made him a bishop, and Paul VI, who had named him Patriarch and cardinal. Known for his warmth, he was nicknamed ‘the Smiling Pope.’
His reign lasted only 33 days, ending with his sudden death on the night of 28 September 1978 — one of the shortest pontificates in history. He left no encyclical and no liturgical legislation, but set a tone of simplicity, taking ‘Humilitas’ as his motto and becoming the first pope to decline the traditional papal coronation and tiara. He was beatified by Pope Francis on 4 September 2022.
Thirty-three days is not a pontificate; it is a breath. Albino Luciani left no encyclical, no liturgical law — nothing by which Tradition might weigh him. What little we have points gently toward the new path he inherited: he set aside the coronation and the tiara, retired the sedia gestatoria, and named himself for the two popes of the Council.
Of his deeper mind we cannot honestly speak. The Smiling Pope passed before he could be tested. Too brief to judge — and we will not pretend otherwise.