Pope John Paul I (Latin: Ioannes Paulus I; Italian: Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani [alˈbiːno luˈtʃaːni] (17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later.

[12] Ordained a priest on 7 July 1935, Luciani then served as a curate in his native Forno de Canale before becoming a professor and the vice-rector of the Belluno seminary in 1937.

[10] In 1947, he was named chancellor to Bishop Girolamo Bortignon of Belluno,[10] and was appointed a Supernumerary Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness, the most junior class of papal prelate, on 15 December.

[4] At the same time, he was opposed to the 1974 referendum restricting divorce after it had been liberalised, feeling that such a move would fail and simply point out a divided Church with declining influence.

While there, he met with Sister Lucia dos Santos, the surviving visionary of three children who in 1917 claimed to see apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary (revered in this form under the title Our Lady of Fatima).

[17] In January 1976, he published Illustrissimi ("To the Illustrious Ones"), a collection of letters penned by him in previous years, whimsically addressed to historical and literary figures such as Dickens, G. K. Chesterton, Maria Theresa of Austria, Teresa of Avila, Goethe, Figaro, Pinocchio, the Pickwick Club, King David, and Jesus.

[16] On the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Pericle Felici announced that the cardinals had elected Albino Luciani, Patriarch of Venice, who had chosen the name Pope John Paul I.

"[22] British primate Cardinal Basil Hume declared: "Once it had happened, it seemed totally and entirely right ... We felt as if our hands were being guided as we wrote his name on the paper".

[16] A dramatic event, soon after the election, occurred when the leader of the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad, collapsed and died after a ceremony on 5 September 1978.

[28] British researcher Paul Spackman described Luciani as a man of "doctrinal rigour leavened by pastoral and social open-mindedness," who left behind a "legacy of gentle and compassionate bridge-building.

In 1968, as Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, he submitted a report to his predecessor as the Patriarch of Venice, Giovanni Urbani, that argued that the contraceptive pill should be permitted.

"[5] In his letter to Carlo Goldoni from the book Illustrissimi, Luciani took a critical perspective of abortion and argued that it violated God's law and that it went against the deepest aspirations of women, profoundly disturbing them.

"[35] In a 1974 interview, while he was the Patriarch of Venice, Luciani upheld the traditional line: "A sexuality that is worthy of man must be a part of love for a person of a different sex with the added commitments of fidelity and indissolubility.

[4]John Paul I reiterated the official views of the church regarding Marxism and Catholicism being incompatible and believed it to be a "weapon to disobey" the Christian faith.

Luciani stressed the need throughout his time as Bishop of Vittorio Veneto to answer the universal call to holiness as was an invitation in the Second Vatican Council.

In his General Audience address on 13 September 1978, the pope said that the entire point of mercy is "to surrender to God" through faith in him, which goes about "transforming one's life" in the fight against sin, and the pursuit of holiness.

He continued that it may be "difficult to love others; we do not find them likeable, they have offended us and hurt us", though said that forgiveness between brothers and sisters was very important for unity and peace among people.

The week before this, the pope said he was unable to accept an invitation to the Latin American Episcopal Conference in Puebla, Mexico for October due to his schedule.

[45] No saints were canonised nor people beatified in his brief term on the papal throne, but José Gras y Granollers, Juan Vicente Zengotita-Bengoa Lasuen and Giuseppe Beschin were made Servants of God during his pontificate on 22 September 1978.

He was seen by some as an intellectual lightweight not up to the responsibilities of the papacy, although David Yallop (In God's Name) says that this is the result of a whispering campaign by people in the Vatican who were opposed to Luciani's policies.

[61] Falasca confirmed, after interviewing the sisters who found him and documents from the Vatican Apostolic Archive, that John Paul I died of a heart attack in the late evening hours of 28 September 1978.

[62] The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, in his preface for the book, describes the various conspiracies regarding John Paul I's death as little more than "noir reconstructions".

[63] Sister Vincenza Taffarel had noted the pope had not touched the coffee she had left for him in the sacristy at 5:15 am (after about 10 minutes) and went looking for him but found him dead, and hastily summoned Marin, who also went into the room.

[63] John Paul I had suffered a severe pain in his chest for about five minutes around 7:30 pm while reciting the vespers in the chapel with Magee before dinner, but insisted against calling for Doctor Renato Buzzonetti.

On 23 November, on the Feast of Christ the King, the diocesan process formally opened in Belluno Cathedral with José Saraiva Martins in charge and presiding over the inauguration.

On 13 June 2008, the Vatican began the "Roman" phase of the beatification process for John Paul I, in which they would assess the documents and witness testimonies collected during the diocesan inquiry.

[69] The documents in regard to the cause were supposed to be delivered to the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Angelo Amato on 17 October 2012 (the one-hundredth anniversary of the late pope's birth), in a large Positio dossier (consisting of a biography and investigation into his virtues) to examine the pros and cons of the cause.

Following the conclusion of the writing of the "Positio" dossier (3652 pages in total), they received several messages affirming personal experience of Luciani's holiness, including a handwritten card from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

[78] Pope Francis authorized a decree that recognized the miracle on 13 October 2021; it enabled for John Paul I to be beatified at Saint Peter's Square on 4 September 2022.

His simplicity was a vehicle for a solid, rich teaching which, thanks to the gift of an exceptional memory and a vast knowledge, he embellished with numerous citations from ecclesiastical and secular writers.