Vatican City, Dec 23, 2021 / 09:53 am
Pope Francis will beatify the “smiling pope” John Paul I on Sept. 4, 2022.
Vatican News, the website overseen by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, said on Dec. 23 that the pope who reigned for only 33 days will be beatified in St. Peter’s Basilica.
It added that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints shared the ceremony’s date with Cardinal Beniamino Stella, postulator of the cause of canonization, and Bishop Renato Marangoni of Belluno-Feltre, the Italian diocese where the cause opened on Nov. 23, 2003, and closed on Nov. 9, 2017, with the proclamation of John Paul I’s heroic virtues.
Pope Francis recognized a miracle obtained through the intercession of his papal predecessor in October.