I have not written about Pope John Paul I for many weeks, not because he has been out of mind, but rather I have been preoccupied with so many other matters that I have scarcely had time to write much at all in this weblog. Papa Luciani is rarely far from my memory. I would say every week something occurs which leads me to think of him and what I experienced ever so briefly, but poignantly in 1978, the year of his papacy.
I know I am not alone in this, even though more and more individuals who had some direct experience of him are now passing from life to death. There are a few very dedicated men and women who are admirably working to make his memory and legacy better known to the general public. I am trying to do my small part in that endeavor.
One of the biggest obstacles in getting a good understanding of Luciani is all the misinformation that has been written about him in the popular press. For instance, if you read some of the books, you will be left with the impression he was to have been a great reformer to the extent that someone murdered him within the Vatican. Other books will leave you with the impression that he was an unintelligent simple priest unsuited for papal responsibilities and succumbing to death as a result of stress. These ideas can be easily written, but from what I can ascertain, lack solid evidence and support.
I have often said that if you wish to see what a Luciani papacy would have looked like should it have lasted ten or more years, look at the papacy of his successor, John Paul II. I truly believe John Paul II was a continuation of John Paul I, both in terms of the New Evangelization and in terms of the pastoral approach that both men so clearly valued and practiced.
Another obstacle in making John Paul I better known to the world, especially the English-speaking world, is that much of his writings is still in Italian. Translations have been increasingly available, thanks to a few dedicated souls. If you read his biography, and especially his writings as bishop and patriarch, you get a good glimpse of the man, who was anything but a simpleton or a great reformer that sought to overturn Church Tradition or discipline. He was, though, a man for the people with a firm grasp on a central Vatican II teaching, i.e., the Church is the Peopleo of God.
Did you know that the centenary of Luciani’s birth (October 17, 1912) falls on the same month that the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council?
May the cause of his canonization advance with all due haste. I pray that I may see the day in which he is added to the list of saints of the Church.
Papa Luciani, pray for us!
