Vatican City, July 12, 2022: Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul 1 September 4 during a Mass at St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican Press Office has announced.

Bishop Renato Marangoni will read the Rite of Beatification at the Mass, together with the Cardinal Beniamino Stella, postulator for the Cause of Canonization, and Stefania Falasca, the deputy postulator, the press office said.

Pope John Paul I was born as Albino Luciani in the northern Italian town of Forno di Canale (now Canale d’Agordo) on October 17, 1912.

“During the beatification, the team of postulators will gift the Holy Father with a reliquary containing the relics of the new Blessed,” according to the July 11 statement from the Press Office.

Ahead of the beatification, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis will preside over a prayer vigil in the Basilica of St. John Lateran on the evening of September 3.

The Pope’s Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome will celebrate the vigil in the Basilica which houses the Chair of the Bishop of Rome, of which John Paul I took possession on September 23, 1978.

Following the beatification, Mass will be celebrated on September 11 in the hometown of the new Blessed, which lies in the territory of the Diocese of Belluno-Feltre.

Pope John Paul I’s was the shortest papacy in modern history, reigning over the See of Peter for just 33 days. He died on September 28, 1978.

He was the first Pope to choose a double name, saying he did so in honor of his two predecessors: John XXIII and Paul VI.

He was also the last in the long line of Italian-born Popes which began with Clement VII in 1523.

His successors—John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis—have all praised the man known as “The Smiling Pope.”

Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-07/beatification-dates-john-paul-first-albino-luciani.html