John Paul I remembered by his niece Pia Luciani...
(Vatican Radio) Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani was born exactly a century ago,
on the 17th of October 1912 at Forno di Canale in the North of Italy. On this same
date this year, the first part of the 'Positio', the documentation on this twentieth
century pope's heroic virtues which regard his life and the miracle he is said to
have performed – was presented for approval to the Prefect of the Congregation for
the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. And so while celebrations are underway
in his hometown to mark this special occasion, Veronica Scarisbrick brings you archive
interviews relating to this Roman Pontiff's 33 day pontificate. Among the guest speakers
is the Pope's niece Pia Luciani: “… when he died a reporter commented on the Pope’s
lack of culture and his “careless style" when writing. He’d missed the point! My uncle
wrote in an intentionally simple way not because he lacked culture but because he
deliberately tried to reach out to as many people as possible: the elderly, the sick
and especially children! "…
While Pia Luciani shares with Veronica Scarisbrick
family feelings regarding Pope John Paul I’s premature death and their irritation
at the groundless conjectures surrounding it she also comes up with particular episodes
linked both to "Our Lady of Guadalupe" and to Fatima...
Other guest speakers
in this programme include former Vatican journalist Arthur Baum and Augustinian
Father Prosper Grech, now Cardinal, who personally knew Albino Luciani in the years
when he was still Cardinal Patriarch of Venice .