By John Ikani
Pope Francis has beatified John Paul I, the happy and humble pontiff known as “the smiling pope”, whose death after just 33 days as leader of the world’s Roman Catholics gave rise to decades of speculation and rumour.
The ceremony in St. Peter’s Square constituted the last formal step in the Vatican before possible sainthood for the Italian born pontiff.
“With a smile, Pope John Paul managed to communicate the goodness of the Lord,” Francis said in his homily.
“How beautiful is a church with a happy, serene and smiling face, that never closes doors, never hardens hearts, never complains or harbors resentments, isn’t angry, does not look dour or suffer nostalgia for the past,” the pontiff said.
Francis then encouraged people to pray to the newly beatified churchman to “obtain for us the smile of the soul.”
Born Albino Luciani on 17 October 1912, in the northern Italian town of Canale d’Agordo, John Paul I went on to become Patriarch of Venice, cardinal and then the head of the Roman Catholic church.
Luciani, who took the name John Paul after being elected pope on 26 August 1978, was found dead in bed at his Vatican apartment on 28 September that year.
The death of John Paul I death sparked intense speculation as to the cause, from suicide — he seemed reluctant to take on the position of the pope — to murder, allegedly by those who opposed his plans to reform the church, particularly the powerful Vatican bank.
Although the Vatican said John Paul died of a heart attack, it gave conflicting versions as to the circumstances in which his body was discovered.
Despite initially claiming he had been found by a priest who served as his secretary, it later acknowledged he had been found dead by one of the nuns who used to bring him his morning coffee.
Books speculating on the circumstances surrounding his death sold millions of copies.
John Paul’s biographer Christophe Henning said the rumours could be explained by the sudden nature of his death and the “calamitous communication” by the Vatican at the time. The absence of an autopsy to determine the cause of death has also helped fuel speculation.
But Henning told Agence France-Presse he had no doubt that the pontiff had died of natural causes, adding that he had been “in fragile health”.
Last year, Francis approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul I — that of the recovery of a critically ill 11-year-old girl in 2011 in Buenos Aires, the hometown of the current pope.
Now a young woman, Candela Giarda told a Vatican press conference last week via a video message that she had wanted to attend the ceremony but couldn’t because she recently broke a foot working out in a gym.
For Luciani to be declared a saint, another miracle, following his beatification, must be attributed to his intercession and certified by the Vatican.
