Pope John Paul I - A Passionate Adventure: Living the Catholic Faith Today

Albino Luciani Pope John Paul I

A Passionate Adventure:

Living the Catholic Faith Today

Second Revised Edition

Translated with an Introduction

by Lori Pieper, OFS

Preface by Justin Cardinal Rigali

tau cross books and media

2014

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014950106

ISBN:

978-0-9796688-8-3 (Paperback)

978-0-9907756-0-7 (EPUB)

978-0-9796688-9-0 (Kindle)

The texts translated here come from the following work and are used with permission of the copyright holder:

Opera Omnia di Albino Luciani. Giovanni Paolo I

by P.P.F.M.C. Messaggero San Antonio - Editrice

Basilica del Santo - Via Orto Botanico, 11-35123 Padova, Italy

www.edizionimessaggero.it

Cover Design by Lori Pieper

Front Cover Photo courtesy of L'Osservatore Romano

Back Cover photo of Cardinal Luciani in 1973 is in the public domain

2013, 2014 by Lori Pieper

All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without permission of the copyright holder

Because the hoping and planning for the publication of this work have stretched over many years, it would be impossible to thank all the people who helped me in the labors. But I am grateful to all of them, named and unnamed.

First of all, my thanks are due to Ray and Lauretta Seabeck with whom I have collaborated since 1990 publishing the English-language edition of Humilitas, for their support and friendship and their cooperation in reprinting translations that first appeared in this journal.

To Don Francesco Taffarel and Msgr. Ausilio da Rif for their help with questions about Lucianis writings, and Don Diego Lorenzi and the late Msgr. Mario Senigaglia, for their help and insight.

To the late Edoardo and Antonietta Luciani, who aided me me my research many years ago, and to Pia Luciani, Stefania Falasca, Loris Serafini, Paul Spackman and Mo Guernon for their present help and support.

My delighted thanks to Justin Cardinal Rigali for agreeing to write the preface, and for so beautifully capturing the spirit of John Paul I as we all knew him.

To Bill Kalush of the Conjuring Arts Research Center, for his great patience in disruptions in my work;

And, as always, to my parents, John and Betty Pieper, for always being there for me.

The Documents of Vatican II

AA Apostolicam ActuositatemDecree on the Apostolate of the Laity

AG Ad GentesDecree on the Mission Activity of the Church

CD Christus Dominus Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops

DH Dignitatis Humanae Declaration on Religious Liberty

DV Dei Verbum Constitution on Divine Revelation

GS Gaudium et Spes Constitution on the Church in the Modern World

GE Gravissimum EducationisDeclaration on Christian Education

IM Inter MirificaDecree on the Means of Social Communication

LG Lumen Gentium Constitution on the Church

NA Nostra Aetate Declaration on the Churchs Relation to

Non-Christian Religions

OE Orientalem EcclesiarumDecree on Eastern Catholic Churches

OT Optatem TotiusDecree on Priestly Training

PC Perfectae Caritatis Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal

of Religious Life

PO Presbyterium Ordinis Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests

SC Sacrosanctum ConciliumConstitution on the Liturgy

UR Unitatis RedintegratioDecree on Ecumenism

Others

AASActa Apostolicae Sedis

ENEvangelii Nuntiandi

MCMarialis Cultus

MMMater et Magistra

OperaAlbino Luciani / Giovanni Paolo I, Opera Omnia. (Padua: Edizioni Messaggero 1988-89. 9 vols).

ORLOsservatore Romano

PLMigne, Patrologia Latina

PTPacem in Terris

RDRivista diocesana del patriarcato di Venezia

A special note about Lucianis citations of the best-known works of St. Francis de Sales, without doubt his favorite writer: he almost always calls An Introduction to the Devout Life by the title Filotea, after the original addressee, the devout woman who is a friend of God; likewise he cites A Treatise on the Love of God as Teotimo for similar reasons; the addressee is God-fearing. The citations preserve these versions of the titles when they occur.

With great devotion to the memory of Pope John Paul I, Lori Pieper, OFS introduces us to his person and his teaching. In A Passionate Adventure, Living the Catholic Faith Today, she presents in her English-language translation a significant collection of the pastoral writings of Albino Luciani before his election to the See of Peter.

The content of this book confirms the accuracy of the image that the world received of John Paul I, at the time of his election, as a joyful and gentle Pope whose own life was totally centered on the Person of Jesus Christ, the Chief Pastor of the Church.

From Pope John Paul Is own words, there emerges a clear expression of how he exercised his pastoral office, how he loved his people, and how he proclaimed to them the Word of God in all its purity and integrity and with all its demands. We meet a Pope rich in humanity, exemplary in showing kindness and compassion, calling us to Jesus and inviting us to pray.

This book leads up to encounter John Paul I in so many different situations of his pastoral ministry. Hence we come to understand how, despite the shortness of his pontificate, his legacy of faith and love endures in the Church. The publication of this volume is a welcome contribution for those who wish to understand the papacy as it has been exercised in recent times. This book offers a splendid opportunity to encounter an outstanding disciple of Jesus Christ in the person of John Paul I.

August 15, 2014
Solemnity of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Justin Cardinal Rigali
Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia

From the moment that Pope Francis first stepped onto the balcony of St. Peters Basilica on March 13, 2013, the world was captivated by his smile, his humility and the simplicity of his speech. And those of us who recall the papal elections of 1978 found ourselves unexpectedly saying, Hes just like John Paul I!

That smile, those homely metaphors, the enchanting wit and humor, the brushing aside of protocol and ceremony, the closeness to the poor, the insistence that the papacy is serviceall those characteristics of Pope Francis are strikingly similar to those of the last Italian Pope. Unfortunately, too many people in the English-speaking world still dont know about John Paul I and the gifts he brought to the Church all those years ago.

It has been my dream for more than 35 years that people should know more about Albino Luciani. As a college student, I was captivated by him at his election on August 26, 1978, and mourned when he died suddenly barely a month later, on September 28.

As time went by, and everyone else seemed to have forgotten him, I was collecting information about him. I sent to Italy for his published writings and read them, teaching myself Italian in the process. I dreamed of someday writing a full biography of him. I also wanted to make his writings available in English to celebrate not just his holiness and wisdom as a priest and bishop, but his skill as a gifted writer as well.

After the appearance of the sensational book In Gods Name by David Yallop in 1984, I knew I had to start work on an accurate account of Lucianis life and death right away. I traveled to Italy, meeting his family and collecting information for a biography.