VATICAN CITY (WITL) Thirty-three years ago the world learned of the death of the pope. . . . Again.
Thirty-three days after his election to Peter’s chair, John Paul I — whose spirit began to lighten up a decade of ecclesial gloom — was found dead in bed of a sudden heart attack at the age of 66.
The first Roman pontiff ever to take a double name, and the first in centuries to refuse the triple crown at his investiture, Albino Luciani’s quiet exuberance provided a marked contrast to the dejection of Paul VI in the final years of his reign.
What’s more, although Paul had always been the consummate man of the Curia, his successor’s aversion to scripts had quickly raised some hackles among the Vatican brass, but also proved a popular hit along the lines of the last patriarch of Venice tapped for the papacy — the now-Blessed John XXIII.
Of course, the death of Papa Luciani paved the way for the monumental, 27-year pontificate that followed, one whose echoes continue to resonate — and not just within the Church.
Accordingly, with the first feast of Blessed John Paul II coming on October 22, the Holy See announced yesterday that Benedict XVI will celebrate a Mass dedicated to Karol Wojtyla’s great project, the New Evangelisation, in St Peter’s.
Fittingly, the date of the October 16 Mass coincides with that of JPII’s election.
The Mass likewise marks a year until next Synod of Bishops meets on the topic of the New Evangelisation.