Pope John Paul I will be beatified in a celebration presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square on September 4, 2022, announced an article published in the Italian newspaper L'Avvenire by journalist and vice-postulator of the cause, Stefania Falasca, on December 23, 2021. The beatification had been reportedly expected before Easter. The Holy See has not confirmed the date of the beatification at this time.
The 263rd pope, the Italian Albino Luciani reigned only 33 days in 1978. Nicknamed the "smiling pope," he died of a heart attack on the night of September 28.
On October 13, Pope Francis approved a decree from the Congregation for Saints' Causes recognizing a miracle attributed to his intercession.
The miracle occurred on July 23, 2011, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when an 11-year-old girl inexplicably recovered from "severe acute inflammatory encephalopathy" and "malignant refractory epilepsy and septic shock" after several months in the hospital and when her prognosis was highly critical.
The article in L'Avvenire points out that John Paul I is the sixth pontiff from the 1900s for whom a beatification process has been opened. Of this group, four have been proclaimed saints: Pius X, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
