Blessed Luciani, Zaia: the smile and the sweetness of her Venetian accent have conquered the world

Great joy is also expressed by the director of the Papa Luciani Foundation in Canale: we are now looking forward to the date of his beatification.

BELLUNO. «He brought the simplicity and concreteness of our people to St. Peter’s but, despite his pontificate lasted only a month, the smile and the sweetness of his Venetian accent conquered the world. On behalf of all Venetians, I express my joy and pride at the news of the decree that opens the way for the beatification of John Paul I ». It is the message with which Luca Zaia expresses joy and satisfaction at the announcement of the beatification of Pope Luciani. “The Pope’s decree makes us see the day on which Don Albino, as so many of our elders who had seen him as a young priest in the Belluno area called him, will be blessed – underlines the President – and that day will be a great celebration for the whole of our region. . The modesty that, from his birth into a humble family of workers in the Agordo mountains, has always distinguished Pope Luciani has not prevented him from being the protagonist of a pontificate which, despite its brevity, marked an important period in the life of the Church. His beatification also appears to us as an exceptional underlining of the role that the Venetian Church had in the life of the twentieth century. There are three patriarchs of Venice, shepherds of the Venetian peoples, elected popes in the twentieth century. Pius X and John XXIII have already been proclaimed Saints, even John Paul I will soon be able to ascend to the glories of the altars as blessed ».

Great joy is also expressed by the director of the Papa Luciani Foundation of Canale d’Agordo Onlus, Loris Serafini: «What Vincenzo Savio dreamed of in 2002 by the then bishop of Belluno-Feltre is finally coming true – says Serafini – The beloved Msgr. Savio wanted to propose the figure of Albino Luciani as an example of ordinary holiness for his own Diocese and for the universal Church, valuing the life and teaching of the simple priest of Canale d’Agordo who became pope with the name of John Paul I, proposing him to the whole world as a current model of holiness that is absolutely common and accessible to all. This dream of his will now become reality, welcoming the requests of many faithful who from all parts of the world wanted him to be placed in the honor of the altars. But Albino Luciani shunned the places of honor. He preferred to feel small. In Vittorio Veneto and Venice he repeated “When I speak alone to God and to the Madonna the miter, the skullcap, the ring disappear; I send the adult and also the bishop on vacation, to abandon myself to the spontaneous tenderness, which has a child in front of dad and mom. ” Even as Pope he repeated this concept: “We must feel small in front of God. When I say:” Lord, I believe “; I am not ashamed to feel like a child in front of my mother; I believe in the Lord, in what he has revealed to me “. The holiness that Albino Luciani preferred was that of daily life, that of the “Madonna delle pignatte” who, he said, “became a saint without visions, without ecstasy, became a saint with these little things. She washed bowls, prepared soups, peeled potatoes or something similar “. So – he concludes – we can really be happy that the Church has officially recognized the holiness of this “extraordinary” pastor lived in an absolutely ordinary way, which brings all believers closer to an accessible, possible and concrete holiness, the one that according to the ancient etymology, it makes believers “full of life” and gives full meaning to life. It is an accessible holiness, because it is not a conquered merit, but a free gift from the Lord, as a response to the trust placed in him. Now we await the date of his beatification with joy ”.