Death of John Paul I

John Paul I died on 28 September 1978 in Vatican City, aged 65. The pope of the Catholic Church for just thirty-three days in 1978, John Paul I was born Albino Luciani in a small mountain village in northern Italy. He became a priest, taught theology, served as bishop of Vittorio Veneto and from 1969 as patriarch of Venice. Elected on 26 August 1978, he was the first pope to take a double name, honouring his two predecessors, and he was known as the smiling pope for his warm, simple style. He was found dead in the Apostolic Palace on 28 September, probably of a heart attack, which prompted conspiracy theories that investigators have rejected. He was beatified in 2022.

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