(Vatican Radio) This weekend marks the anniversary of the election of Albino Luciani
as Pope John Paul I, whose election came on August 26th, 1978 after one of the shortest
conclaves ever. He died suddenly 33 days after his election but during his brief
papacy he touched the hearts of many people with his personal warmth. But who was
Pope John Paul I and what was the most important impact of his brief reign?
We
revisit the events of that year and examine the figure of Albino Luciani with a
special report by Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges that includes sound clips of Pope John
Paul I speaking in both Italian and English and the voices of two U.S. Cardinals
who knew him, (William Baum and the late John Foley) plus an interview with a Vatican
expert and Catholic Scholar, George Weigel , who was the biographer of Pope Luciani's
successor, John Paul II.
Listen to the whole report looking at the figure of
Pope John Paul I: