Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Rev. Gus Puleo: Healing of young girl leads to beatification of Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I is known as “the smiling Pope” and the one whose papacy lasted a mere 34 days. On September 4, 2022 Pope Francis beatified Pope John I, whose birth name was Albino Luciani. This was the fourth 20th century Pope to be beatified in the last few years.
On the day of his election Cardinal Albino Luciani was the first Pope to take a double name. He did so to recognize the work and holiness of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. On this historic day, this humble Pontiff told the world, “Realize this, I do not have the wisdom or heart of Pope John. Nor do I have the preparation and culture of Pope Paul. However, I stand in their place and I will seek to serve the church and I hope that you will help me with your prayers.”
Pope John Paul I was a man of simplicity and good humor. He was, above all, a pastoral Pope, a Pope of the people. At his installation, he did away with the traditional lavish papal coronation including a threetiered papal tiara. The reporters in Rome wrote that “he does not talk like a Pope. He talks like us.” In his papacy he outlined that he would continue the implementation of Vatican II and also stressed the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, but also tried to end wars.
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI for the first time in history gave a de visu, a solemn testimony about another Pope, John Paul I, to raise him to being beatified in the Church. Pope John Paul I was known to walk around with sheets of paper in his hand, and in fact was found dead from a heart attack with one clutched between his fingers. One of these many papers was given as a relic to Pope Francis on September 4th as proof of his holiness. This unusual relic was not a fragment of a bone or a part of his body, but a white piece of paper, yellowed by time, on which the Pope wrote an outline for spiritual reflection on the three theological virtues—faith, hope and charity. This is a definite example of his entire spirituality and his search for sanctification. In fact, this is an outline of his pontificate.
Pope John Paul I in one of his homilies described how priests are “ministers of God, ministers meaning ‘servants;’ meaning servants of God and servants of the people.” He said that “a priest is really a servant who undoes himself for others.” Speaking about pastoral life, Pope John Paul I insisted that a priest “in confession above all must be gentle and treat people well. We are to be gentle with people even if some people are sometimes ungrateful.” He reiterated that “we do not work for gratitude since the Lord is waiting for us to see if in spite of everything we are able to continue to do some good to the people.” During World War II the then Bishop Albino Luciani of Venice assisted people in distress and suffering, especially the Jews in Italy. To his final day he tried to live out these ideas of the priesthood.
In the case of the death of John Paul I, the priests, doctors and scientists studying his cause for beatification stressed that they had acquired and thoroughly studied medical records, court documents, doctors’ reports. According to this investigation his death was declared a natural one, more specifically from a heart attack. So, the many theories about the Pope being murdered were proven false as these medical and legal sources helped overcome the false narrative.
At the funeral mass for Pope John Paul I, the homilist, who was Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, described how “Pope John Paul I passed as a meteor which unexpectedly lights up the heavens and then disappears, leaving us amazed and astonished.” In 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla became Pope—it was “The Year of the Three Popes.” Succeeded by a Pole, a German and then an Argentinian. Pope John Paul I was the last Italianborn Pope, breaking a lineage that spanned 45 popes over 456 years.
The miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul I in order to be beatified was about a young girl who was suffering from a malignant refractory epilepsy and her miraculous healing. This Argentine girl’s mother in desperation called her local priest to her daughter’s
bedside after doctors had warned that she would not live through the night. The priest suggested that the entire family and he should pray together to Pope John Paul I. The priest later recounted that he had never prayed before to John Paul I for any type of healing. He commented with complete faith, “I don’t know why I prayed to this powerful Pope. It was the Holy Spirit.” Blessed John Paul I, pray for us!
The Rev. Gus serves as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown.