Pope John Paul I

Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, giving rise to the most recent year of three popes—the first since 1605. John Paul I remains the most recent Italian-born pope, the last in a succession of such popes that started with Clement VII in 1523. John Paul I also holds the dual status as being the first pope born in the 20th century as well as the last pope to die in it.

Before the August 1978 papal conclave that elected him, he expressed his desire not to be elected, telling those close to him that he would decline the papacy if elected, but despite this, upon the cardinals' electing him, he felt an obligation to accept. He was the first pontiff to have a double name, choosing "John Paul" in honour of his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. He explained that he was indebted to John XXIII and to Paul VI for naming him a bishop and a cardinal, respectively. Furthermore, he was the only pope to add the ordinal number "I" to his papal name when choosing it. It was reported by Catholic media that John Paul was not aware at the time that this was unusual.

His two immediate successors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, later recalled the warm qualities of the late pontiff in several addresses. In Italy, he is remembered with the appellatives of Il Papa del sorriso (transl. "The Pope of the smile") and Il sorriso di Dio (transl. "The smile of God"). Time magazine and other publications referred to him as "The September Pope". He is also referred to in Italy as "Papa Luciani" to distinguish him from his successor of the same papal name. In his hometown of Canale d'Agordo a museum built and named in his honour is dedicated to his life and brief papacy.

John Paul I was declared a Servant of God by his successor, John Paul II, on 23 November 2003. Pope Francis confirmed John Paul's heroic virtue on 8 November 2017 and titled him as venerable. Francis presided over John Paul's beatification on 4 September 2022.