Pope John Paul I

**Pope John Paul I** (; , 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978), born **Albino Luciani**, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 264th Pope for 33 days in 1978.  His name was a combination of the names of the two popes who came before him.  The name "John Paul" honors Pope John XXIII who made him a bishop and Pope Paul VI who raised him to the rank of cardinal. Pope John Paul I was beatified by Pope Francis on 4 September 2022.

## Early life

Luciani was born in Canale d'Agordo, a small town between Venice and the Austrian border with Italy.  His father was a migrant worker in Switzerland.

## Priest

Luciani began his priesthood in the parishes of his home region.  In 1937, he became a professor of theology and vice-rector of Belluno seminary.

## Bishop

He was made Bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1969.  He understood his role as bishop in a modest way:

## Cardinal

In 1972, Pope Paul VI made Luciani a cardinal and the Patriarch of Venice.

## Pope

Cardinal Luciani was elected Pope in 1978, John Paul I was the first pope to combine the names of John and Paul as a Pope as his way of paying tribute to Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.  He was the first Pope to call himself by a new name since Pope Lando in 913.

He was known as "the Smiling Pope".

### Death

John Paul I died of a heart attack on 28 September 1978, 33 days after his election.

## Selected works

- In a list made of writings by and about John Paul I, OCLC/WorldCat has over 250 works in 370 publications in 17 languages and 11,300 library holdings.
- _Illustrissimi_ (1978)

## Related pages

- List of popes
- List of popes by length of reign

## More reading

- Cornwell, John. (1989). _A Thief in the Night: the Death of Pope John Paul I._ New York: Simon & Schuster. ; OCLC 20013469
- Seabeck, Raymond, ed. (2004). _The Smiling Pope: the Life and Teaching of John Paul I._ 	Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division. ; OCLC 438570516
- David Yallop.  In God’s Name. An investigation into the murder of Pope John Paul I

## Other websites

- Catholic Hierarchy, Pope John Paul I
- Vatican webpage, John Paul I biography
- Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church , Cardinal Luciani

## Infobox (christian leader)

- **type**: Pope
- **honorific-prefix**: Pope Blessed
- **name**: John Paul I
- **title**: Bishop of Rome
- **image**: Paus Johannes Paulus I (Bestanddeelnr 929-9074) (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Pope John Paul I in 1978
- **birth name**: Albino Luciani
- **term start**: 26 August 1978
- **term end**: 28 September 1978
- **predecessor**: Pope Paul VI ,  Paul VI
- **successor**: Pope John Paul II ,  John Paul II
- **ordination**: 7 July 1935
- **ordained by**: Giosuè Cattarossi
- **consecration**: 27 December 1958
- **consecrated by**: Pope John XXIII, John XXIII
- **cardinal**: 5 March 1973
- **created cardinal by**: Pope Paul VI, Paul VI
- **coat of arms**: C o a Johannes Paulus I.svg
- **motto**: (Humility)
- **birth place**: Canale d'Agordo, Belluno, Veneto, Kingdom of Italy
- **death place**: Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
- **other**: John Paul
- **venerated**: Catholic Church
- **beatified date**: 04 September 2022
- **beatified place**: St. Peter's Square, Vatican City
- **beatified by**: Pope Francis
- **patronage**: Catechists
- **signature**: Pope Jonh Paul I (papal signature).png


## Infobox (pope styles)

- **image**: C o a Johannes Paulus I.svg
- **dipstyle**: His Holiness
- **offstyle**: Your Holiness
- **relstyle**: Holy Father
- **deathstyle**: The Venerable, Venerable