Was Pope John Paul I really murdered? 1978, “Year of the three popes,” Part 1

Pope John Paul I

… Death of the pope in 1978 started the current demise of the Catholic Church

In my humble estimation, the year 1978 is one that has been highly consequential in the fall of the Roman Catholic Church from one of being highly-regarded, to one that in many circles is strongly-despised. 

That sounds like a strong statement, and it is, but it goes back to the fact that many people still think that many of the problems that the church is facing today after losing millions of followers goes back to that year when the church had three popes. Some of it came earlier, but much can be traced to 1978.

So, to understand that, we have to return to that year when so much occurred in a short period of time. 

1978's “influence is still felt”

The short synopsis is that Pope Paul VI passes away, a new pope, John Paul I was elected, and within 33 days he was dead. That led to another conclave, and after eight ballots, a  man who elicited controversy on many levels was elected to the papacy.

Here is a short summary by a British Catholic writer who story is entitled, “1978: Year of three popes. That time now is history, though four decades on, its influence is still felt,”

Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo in Italy in 1978, forty-three years ago this year. That date began an extraordinary sequence of events and led to 1978 being given the name of the Year of the Three Popes.

Paul VI had been Bishop of Rome for some 15 years, following in the footsteps of John XXIII, a difficult journey for anyone to contemplate.

It fell to Paul VI to bring the Second Vatican Council to a close and then to guide the Church through the tempestuous and war-torn years of the 60s and 70s.

Chris McDonnell, “1978: Year of three popes,” La Croix International, August 11, 2021

The death of Paul VI was not a surprise since he had health problems. However, what happened later is still terribly controversial that many in the church simply refuse to discuss it today. 

Albino Luciani

Cardinal Albino Luciani was a protege of the late Pope John XXIII, who had called the Vatican II sessions in order to bring the church into the 20th Century. He was the archbishop of Venice, and he was very popular among the people. When named, he was called “The Smiling Pope,” and he was welcomed by so many Catholics,

On the fourth ballot, the name of the patriarch of Venice, Albino Luciani, received a significant majority of votes.

So it was on the evening of August 26th when the announcement of his election was given to a crowded St. Peter's Square and his choice of name, John Paul I made known. He quickly became known as the smiling pope. But his residency in Rome was to be brief for, 33 days later, on September 28th, this quiet, reserved man died of a heart attack. He was found in his bed on the morning of the 29th, his book, the Imitation of Christ, still open and the bedside light still on.

The second pope of 1978 had been taken by the Lord.

His funeral on October 4th was celebrated by Cardinal Confalonieri who spoke of John Paul as "a flashing comet who briefly lit up the Church". Yes, his papacy was brief but in so many ways it indicated the path that Francis would tread many years later.

Chris McDonnell, La Croix International, August 11, 2021

However, so many questions still exist about how he died. I will deal with those in Part 2.

Then came the event that changed the Catholic Church since a pope was elected who opposed the major portions of the Vatican II reforms.

John Paul II

The election of the next pope started a breakdown of Vatican II, and more important, led to the sexual abuse coverup by many of the bishops who were appointed by JPII and Benedict XVI, who was his “Rottweiler.”

In short, he is what transpired,

It began on October 14th and after eight ballots, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, was elected to the See of Rome, taking the name of John Paul II.

It was the start of a long, significant and at times controversial papacy.

Born in Poland in May 1920, he was a young man at the time of election by the college of Cardinals … 

The later years of his papacy were marked by a conservative pattern of leadership as many subtle, and at times, not so subtle, attempts were made to inhibit the decrees of the Council.

Chris McDonnell, La Croix International, August 11, 2021

Part 2: Was the death of Pope John Paul I actually a murder?