The 1978 Election of Pope John Paul I

On this day in 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected Pope following the death of Pope Paul VI several weeks earlier. In honor of his two immediate predecessors, he took the name John Paul.

 

He was elected on the second day of the conclave, where all the eligible Cardinals gathered to vote for the next Successor to Saint Peter. It was on the fourth vote that Cardinal Luciani was chosen. It was one of the quickest elections for a Pope in Catholic history.

He was considered a kind and happy man, who had an infectious smile. He was a young man by many standards, having been elected at only sixty-five years old. It was thought he would lead the Church to a more modern destiny.

But it was not meant to be. Thirty three days later, on the morning of September 29, Pope John Paul was found dead by his Secretary. He was last seen at 11 PM the previous night. It was three weeks before his sixty-sixth birthday.

At first, it was thought he was a victim of a homicide. But the, it was determined it was a heart attack.

Many conspiracy theories abounded for several years regarding the death of this man. Books and movies told the suspicious death that involved the death of a Pope.

In the Dan Brown novel, Angels and Demons, the death of the Pope portends how science was going to end the world by exploding the God Particle. It also explored the possibility of the assassinations of the four men believed to be the leading candidates, the preferiti, to succeed the deceased Pope. Peferiti, of course, is a fictional term not used by the Church.

Then, in The Godfather Coda – The Death of Michael Coreleone, Michael visits future Pope, Cardinal Lamberto and gives his Confession to ask forgiveness for ordering the killing of his brother, Fredo. Cardinal Lamberto is subsequently elected Pope and then dies a violent death shortly thereafter.

Pope John Paul may have died from a heart attack, but he was not considered a sickly person. But some people still believe he died by other means to prevent him from taking the church in a different direction than where it is now.

Pope John Paul was Venerated in 2017 and was Beatified in 2022, which is the step prior to Canonization as a Saint.

He is presently known as Blessed John Paul I, not to be confused with St John Paul II, the former Polish Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła.