David A. Yallop, in his masterful book, In God’s Name, tells us that Albino Luciani’s preconclave biography issued by the Vatican was the shortest of any of the possible contestants, indicating that he was no more than a C-list candidate. In muffled voices on back stairways, in corner offices or quiet restaurants, the members of the Curia too hastily dismissed the patriarch of Venice as “an unknown, had not traveled outside Italy, does not speak any languages.”

A modern St. Francis was of no interest to the majority of the movers and shakers, the Vatican power brokers. If they had stopped to inquire about the simple cardinal who insisted on wearing his predecessor’s robes, rather than use the people’s money to purchase new ones, they would have discovered that Luciani was fluent in German, French, Portuguese and English, as well as Latin and his native Italian.

Dropping names of the powerful would not have occurred to so humble a man, but he counted many foreign cardinals as his friends, having spent time with them on his travels to Portugal, Germany, France, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as Africa.

Before the conclave, Jesuit Father Bartolomeo Serges, based in Rome, in a two-hour session, pointed out the arguments for and against each of the possibilities. Of Luciani, he said:

If you want to elect a pope who will help to build up the Church in the world, then you should vote for Luciani. But remember he is not a man who is accustomed to governing; consequently he will need a good secretary of state.  

The man who never desired anything more than to be a simple parish priest, on Saturday evening, August 28, 1978, stood on St. Peter’s balcony as Pope John Paul I.

His first decision was to keep the conclave in session that evening over dinner, during which he sent word to the cardinals who had been excluded from the conclave because of age, that they should join the others for the following morning’s Mass.

Although the Secretariat of State had already prepared an address for the new pope to deliver, indicating what direction his papacy would take, Luciani took the speech and retired to cell 60 to alter what had originally been vague statements about love, peace and war.

After the morning Mass, Luciani promised the assembly he would follow the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and said he highly valued collegiality, sharing power with the bishops.

He who described himself in Venice as “a poor man accustomed to small things and silence,” had a dream, but warned that dreams could be hampered by too much reliance on research and technology.

It is the temptation of substituting for God one’s own decisions, decisions that would prescind from moral laws. The danger for modern man is that he would reduce the earth to a desert, the person to an automaton, brotherly love to planned collectivization, often introducing death where God wishes life.

Later, while standing on the balcony to lead some two- hundred- thousand faithful in The Angeles, he told the crowd:

Be sure of this: I do not have the wisdom of heart of Pope John nor do I have the preparation and culture of Pope Paul. However, I now stand in their place. I will seek to serve the Church and I hope you will help me with your prayers.

At dinner on Sunday, August 27, John Paul asked Cardinal Jean Villot to continue, at least for the present, as secretary of state. Villot accepted.

Four days later, August 31, Italy’s leading and highly respected economic periodical, IL Mondo, addressed a long letter to Albino, asking for papal intervention to impose “order and morality” on the Vatican’s financial dealings, which included “speculation in unhealthy waters.” The letter was titled “Your Holiness, is it right?”

Is it right for the Vatican to operate in markets like a speculator? Is it right for the Vatican to have a bank whose operations help the illegal transfer of capital from Italy to other countries? Is it right for that bank to assist Italians in evading tax?

The writer went on to say that Marcinkus was the only bishop on the board of a lay bank, which has a branch in the greatest tax havens in the world – the Cisalpine Overseas Bank at Nassau in the Bahamas. (This bank became Banco Ambrosiano Overseas in a subsequent reorganization.)

At the dinner mentioned above, John Paul had already instructed Villot to initiate an investigation of the Vatican finances immediately. “No department, no congregation, no section is to be excluded,” Luciani told him.

Millions of Catholics around the world, including, I am sure, a number of the readers of this site, have asked, “How did the Church, founded by the poor Christ, ever become so embroiled in financial dealings with the Mafia in Europe and the United States? “

Yallop points out that the wealth of the Church had its roots in the fourth century when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, converted to Christianity and gave colossal wealth to Pope Silvester, creating the first wealthy pope. Dante immortalized the consequences:

Alas! Constantine, how much misfortune was caused,
Not by becoming Christian, but by the dowry
Which the first rich Father accepted from you.

Vatican City is the only religious organization in the world that has as its headquarters an independent state, Vatican City, which is a law unto itself, with its 108.7 acres, one-eighth the size of Central Park in New York City.

The Church’s wealth of today can be traced back to Benito Mussolini, who, with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, gave the Roman Catholic Church guarantees and measures of protection.

Vatican City was granted the privileges of an independent state, exempt from paying taxes on properties, and its citizens paid no taxes on imported goods. It was given diplomatic immunity and accompanying privileges for its own diplomats. Furthermore, Mussolini guaranteed the teaching of the Catholic religion in all high schools in Italy. The financial benefits were many:

Article one: Italy undertakes to pay the Holy See, on the ratification of the Treaty, the sum of 750 million lire and to hand over at the same time Consolidated 5 percent State Bonds to the bearer for the nominal value of 1 billion lire. ($81 million)  

On June 7, 1929, Pope Pius XI created the Special Administration, and appointed Bernardino Nogara to run it. One hundred years earlier, the Church had abandoned its practice of lending money without interest, which meant Nogara had a wide-open field for speculation in loans, as well as stocks, bonds, real estate, manufacturing, etc..

Three of Nogara’s brothers became priests, another became director of the Vatican Museum, and Bernardino accepted the job of handling Mussolini’s fund under these conditions:

1. His decisions on what investments to make would be totally and completely free of any religious or doctrinal considerations.
   
2. He would be free to invest Vatican funds anywhere in the world.

It was an open invitation to corruption on both sides of the Atlantic, with no questions asked, and all activities guaranteed secrecy. No shame. No sense of betraying every member of the Church from the pope to the newest baptized infant. No fear of God to put the brakes on runaway ambition and greed.

Luciani had his work cut out for him, and he was determined not to shirk it, no matter the consequences. He was described to Yallop by Msgr. Tiziano Scalzotto, Father Mario Senigaglia, Msgr. Da Rif, Father Bartolomeo Sorge, and Father Busa, among many others, as a man of superior inner strength:

His mind was as strong, as hard, and as sharp as a diamond. That was where his real power was. He understood and had the ability to get to the center of a problem. He could not be overwhelmed, When everyone was applauding the smiling pope, I was waiting for him to reveal his claws. He had tremendous power.  

Before the close of the first week, Luciani accepted Cardinal Villot’s desire to be relieved of some of his duties and appointed Cardinal Bernardin Gantin as president of the pontifical council, “Cor Unum.” This was one of the great funnels for distributing monies contributed from all over the world to the poorest nations. Luciani was convinced that Cor Unum would place Vatican finances in line with the Gospel in the hands of Gantin, a man of deep spirituality and transparent honesty.

The matter of artificial birth control, which he favored, was also on the pope’s mind, and when Villot pointed out that Pope Paul had stressed the virtues of the natural method of contraception, Luciani merely smiled at him and said, “Eminence, what can we old celibates really know of the sexual desires of the married?”

Here was a pope who respected the people he served, and was determined not to place burdens upon them beyond their strength. In a word, he was one with them. He often answered his own phone and placed his own calls, much to the dismay of those in charge of protocol. Moreover, he spoke with the Swiss Guards, which fueled further consternation, and he stopped the practice of anyone’s kneeling before him in the hallways.

Msgr. Giovanni Benelli explained to Yallop how one would best work with Luciani:

With Pope Luciani, you laid out the facts, made your own recommendation, then gave him time and space to consider. Having absorbed all the available information, he would decide, and when Pope Luciani decided, nothing, and understand me on this, nothing would move him or shift him. Gentle, yes. Humble, yes. But when committed to a course of action, like a rock.

During a visit with his good friend, Vittore Branca, who expressed concern about the weight of the papacy, Luciani assured him that he was too small for great things, and tried to carry on the Gospel message in the same simple way he always did in his parish at home:

Between the parish priest at Canale and me there is a difference only in the number of the faithful, but the task is the same, to remember Christ and his word.  

During the late afternoon of September 28, which was to be his last day on earth, Luciani and Villot sat sipping camomile tea in the pope’s office. Luciani informed Villot that he had no intention of leaving Marcinkus in Rome, let alone at the Vatican bank. Perhaps he could be better employed as an auxiliary bishop in Chicago. He was to be removed immediately, the following day, to take a leave of absence.

Marcinkus would be replaced by Msgr. Giovanni Angelo Abbo, secretary of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs of the Holy See, who would bring to his appointment a great deal of financial expertise.

Cardinal Cody of Chicago would be replaced. Luciani hadn’t chosen Cody’s replacement, but said, “There has been a betrayal of trust in Chicago. We must ensure that whoever replaces His Eminence has the ability to win the hearts and minds of all within the diocese.”

Cardinal Baggio was balking over his new appointment to fill the post in Venice, for he did not want to leave Rome, but Luciani was adamant. He said he had never wanted to be pope, and Villot could remind Baggio that everyone has to make sacrifices some time.

Luciani went over added changes coming up, as they both went down the working list. Villot remarked that there were cardinals within the Curia who would feel betrayed by the new appointments, to which Luciani replied that he owed no cardinal for his position of pope. He had never campaigned for votes; he had never wanted to be pope. He owed no one anything.

Villot went on to mention that some will think he had betrayed Paul. Luciani said, “It will also be said that I have betrayed John. Betrayed Pius. Each will find his own guiding light according to his needs. My concern is that I do not betray our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Between 9:30 P.M. on September 28 and 4:30 A.M. on September 29, 1978, Pope Albino Luciani went home to the Lord he had not betrayed.

Yallop mused:

Cody. Marcinkus. Villot. Calvi. Gelli. Sindona. At least one of these men had decided on a course of action that was implemented during the late evening of the twenty-eighth or the early morning of the twenty-ninth. That course of action was derived from the conclusion that the Italian Solution must be applied. The pope must die.

There is a book by John Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, which refutes Yallop’s theory of murder. Both books are listed on Amazon, and are said to be “Out of print.” While I, personally, favor In God’s Name, Cornwell’s book makes some cogent points.

Some will say we had Pope John Paul I for so short a time, and in a way, that is true. Yet, his entire life was a gift to Christ and to us, and that will never be taken away. He is our friend, our mentor; he has made us proud, this holy, joyful, humble son, brother, priest, cardinal and pope, and ever a follower of Jesus Christ.

Peace to all, and love, and joy. Amen.

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