I was happy to run across an article that was published October 2 of this year in America (www.americamagazine.org) about Pope John Paul I. The article was written by Mo Guernon, who is writing a biography of Luciani.
Guernon calls for the canonization of Luciani. Those of us who knew him echo his call.
I would like to provide you an exerpt of Guernon’s article:
There was a nobility in Luciani’s simplicity, and evidence of his humility abounds. As bishop of Vittorio-Veneto, for example, he visited his parishes by bicycle, a rather unassuming means of transport for a man of his station. Later, when taking official possession of St. Mark’s Basilica, he dispensed with the fanfare traditionally accorded the new patriarch of the ancient archdiocese of Venice. At his official residence he literallly opened his door to all who knocked: priests, penitents, prostitutes, drug addicts, drunks, the destitute – everyone.
Luciani eschewed the accouterments of high ecclesiastical officer, preferring a tattered black cassock to the regal purple and red hues signifying the ranks of bishop and cardinal to which he had reluctantly been raised. Strolling through the streets of Venice, Luciani would furtively stuff his zucchetto in his pocket, content to be mistaken for a parish priest by the pedestrians he encountered. After one such solitary twilight walk, the patriarch returned home sporting a bruised and swollen cheek. When the sisters asked him what had happened, he replied dispassionately, “Oh, nothing…. I met a drunkard…. He hit me in the face.”…..And then there were private instances — only recently disclosed — in which John Paul I revealed his abiding humility in ways the public could not have imagined.
Guernon concludes his article by stating: “Today, a broken world desperately needs moral enlightenment. The life and teachings of the first Pope John Paul can provide that in abundance. Thus it would be an incalculable loss to those in current generations – as well as future ones who never knew him – for his memory to fade into oblivion.”
I say, “Amen!” I am doing my small part in keeping his memory alive. I believe he will someday be recognized among those the Church universally recognizes as a Holy One, a Saint for us to imitate.
You can read the entire article at this link: www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=13064&comments=1#readcomments
Papa Luciani, pray for us!
