At the dawn of a new year, isn’t it good to look at a Pope who came to be known all over the world as ‘the smiling Pope’? Anyone can sport a plastic, artificial smile on certain situations. But to be able to wear a genuine smile, as if it was a part of you at all times, ah, that is not easy. What made that smile possible for this Pope was his faith and compassion, his serenity and simplicity.
Pope John Paul I was born Albino Luciani on 17 October 1912 in a town called Canale d’Argordo in northern Italy. His father, Giovanni Luciani, was an ordinary labourer, in fact a bricklayer. He was also the local organizer of the Socialist Party. A sermon preached by a Franciscan friar during the Lenten season helped Albino discern his vocation to priesthood. His father told him he could become a priest, provided he always stood on the side of the workers. Entering the minor seminary at the age of 11, he went on to become a priest and a respected preacher. His book on religious education, Catechism Crumbs, went into six editions. He spent many years teaching in the seminary and as its Rector.
Pope John XXIII, a former Patriarch of Venice, made him a Bishop. Pope Paul VI, his successor, made him a Cardinal and named him the Patriarch of Venice. When he assumed charge, he cancelled the traditional, pompous procession of gondolas. He sold the pectoral cross given to him by Pope John XXIII and with that money launched a fund-raising drive to build a centre for the mentally challenged.
– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ
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