322. Pope John Paul I And the Faith of Others

Albino Luciani: Pope John Paul I

One naturally thinks that popes would obviously back up only the Catholic faith, and it is rather odd to find a Pope siding alongside other faiths too.  But for Albino Luciani, the Pope of 33 days, it was second nature to do so, for he was a firm believer in religious freedom.

Albino Luciani, otherwise known as Pope John Paul I was a predecessor of our present bishop in my diocese of Vittorio Veneto (Italy), so those of us over the threshold of middle age know him well, for we have had direct contact with him personally.  Such is the case of our present parish priest Fr. Mario whose recollections of his former teacher, as Luciani had been, are rich with personal remembrances and of which I have written about in a previous blog here.

Because of the inter-personal nearness our parish has had with John Paul I, I have, let’s say, a more invested interest than most on the vicissitudes of this Pope.  He was an innovator as John XXIII had been, both having been the guardians of the seat of Peter for relative brief periods, the latter about five years and the former barely a month- yet both revolutionized the Church.

Pope John XXIII got rid of a great deal of technical paraphernalia that engulfed the Church and Pope John Paul I simply had no interest in technicalities.  He was aware technicalities could be changed, broken, mended, rescinded, reinstated by this or that Pope- Luciani believed in the basics,- Christ, his life, his ministry from which can stem only one faith.

Yet, John Paul I had a deep respect for the faith of others.  He believed every person had a right to search for truth and not everyone was able to accept the conditions of the Catholic Church: as he himself writes:

“…those who are not satisfied with Catholicism have the right to profess their own religion for various reasons.  Natural Law states that each one of us has the right to search for truth, especially religious truth.”

To my mind the following is one of the most amazing things a Pope has ever said:

“The non Catholics have the right to profess their religion and I have the duty to respect their right as a private citizen, as a priest, as a bishop and as a State”.

 

However, not to be a spoil sport, but since it is freedom we are talking about, I can’t help expressing that one thing must be taken into consideration: it seems, especially in the U.K., the faith of those who initially joined the ranks of the non-Catholics depended mainly on whether their head would end up under the chopper or not.

Source: Vatican Insider