The Pope John Paul I Association, a fundraising campaign to “rescue” John Paul I and promote his Cause, has been launched.
The three men involved are hoping to crowdsource the money through the indiegogo.com website in order to fund a group “to spread accurate knowledge of the life, writing, and spirituality of Pope John Paul I through means such as publications, conferences, workshops, the media and internet and to promote the cause for his beatification and canonisation.”
They add, “Together we can rescue John Paul I’s memory.”
Born Albino Luciani in the northern Italian village of Canale d’Agordo on October 17, 1912 to migrant workers, the future pope was ordained in his native diocese of Belluno in 1935.
Named Bishop of Veneto by John XXIII in 1958, he took part in Vatican II and was made a cardinal in 1973. Elected pope on August 26, 1978, he refused to wear a tiara and was know for his simply style and warm style. However, he died suddenly on September 28.
Dr Lori Pieper, one of the founders of the association, says, “Our purpose is to take Pope John Paul I back from the Yallops and Cornwells of the world, to replace sensationalism and conspiracy theories with solid historical knowledge about him, and to promote the cause for his canonization. We do deal fully with the questions about his death. But there are so many other things people don’t know about him.
“He was for a poor Church long before Pope Francis. He had a love of the poor and the workers that came out of the poverty his own family experienced, and a deep understanding of the Church’s social teachings. He was a bishop who taught his flock the real meaning of Vatican II — he had practically memorised the Council documents. And he had a very rich spirituality, much of it based on his profound understanding of God’s mercy.”
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