Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I reigned for thirty-three days in 1978, one of the shortest pontificates in history. Born Albino Luciani in 1912 at Forno di Canale in the Veneto, he was the son of a migrant bricklayer and glassworker who worked seasonally in Switzerland and was a socialist. The family was poor, and Luciani's background remained visible in everything he did. He was ordained in 1935, took a doctorate in theology at the Gregorian, and taught in the seminary at Belluno. He became Bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958, attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, and was made Patriarch of Venice in 1969 and a cardinal in 1973. He wrote a book of open letters addressed to fictional and historical figures — Pinocchio, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens — which sold well and indicates the register he preferred. He was elected on 26 August 1978 on the fourth ballot in a conclave lasting a single day. He took a double name for the first time in history, honouring both his immediate predecessors. He immediately changed the style of the office. He refused the coronation and the tiara, was installed rather than crowned, declined the sedia gestatoria at first, and used a plain conversational manner in his audiences, speaking about God as both father and mother in one of them. The press called him the smiling pope. He was found dead in bed on the morning of 28 September 1978, apparently of a heart attack. The Vatican's initial account of who discovered him was inaccurate and no autopsy was performed, which fed conspiracy theories that have never been substantiated.
- Lived: 1912 CE – 1978 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: pope, cleric
