Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday as Pope Francis presided over the beatification of John Paul I, the so-called “Smiling Pope,” who led the Catholic Church for just 33 days before he died in disputed circumstances.

John Paul I, son of a Dolomite mason and a particularly warm and pastoral figure, was elected Pope on August 26, 1978 at the age of 65.

He died of a heart attack just 33 days later, on September 28, 1978, making him the shortest-serving pope in modern church history.

Several thousand people, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, gathered under umbrellas during a thunderstorm to listen to the beatification mass – a step before the canonization and the “saint”.

“With a smile, Pope John Paul managed to communicate the goodness of the Lord,” Pope Francis said during Sunday’s Mass.

“How beautiful is a church with a happy, cheerful, and smiling face, never closing doors, never hardening the heart, never complaining or holding grudges, getting angry or impatient, looking grumpy, or suffering nostalgia for the past.”

A tapestry depicting the late Pope was hung at the front of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The death of John Paul I sparked intense speculation as to the cause, ranging from suicide – he seemed reluctant to accept the office of pope – to assassination, allegedly by those who opposed his plans to reform the church, particularly the powerful Vatican Bank.

Many have since disregarded this, and biographer Christophe Henning said the swirling rumors could be explained by the sudden nature of his death and the Vatican’s “catastrophic communications” at the time.

No autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death, and the Vatican issued conflicting and incorrect information as to what had happened.

For example, his lifeless body – sitting in bed, reading glasses on his nose and typewritten documents in his hand – was found by a nun.

However, the Vatican would not recognize the presence of a woman in his bedroom, so his secretary said he found him.

“For me there doesn’t seem to be any real doubt” about his death from natural causes, especially since “we know that he was in poor health,” Henning told the AFP news agency.

The Vatican announced in October 2021 that it had recognized a miracle attributed to John Paul I that enabled him to be beatified, a process by which a person is “blessed” and the final step before becoming a saint.

The miracle was the sudden healing of a seriously ill 11-year-old girl in Buenos Aires in 2011 after a local priest prayed to the late Pope.

According to the rules of the Catholic Church, in most cases a second miracle must be recognized before someone can be canonized.

Born Albino Luciani on October 17, 1912 in Canale d’Agordo in northern Italy, John Paul I rose to become Patriarch of Venice, cardinal and then head of the Catholic Church.

As the last Italian pope, he was known as a man of consensus, humility and simplicity, and with a keen sense of pastoral duty.

“Open to dialogue and listening, he gave priority to pastoral visits and direct contact with the faithful,” says a Vatican beatification pamphlet.

He defended the Church’s opposition to abortion and contraception while attempting to reform its governance.

Sister Margherita Marin, who helped John Paul I in the papal apartments, recalled a man who was “kind to all.”

“He knew how to treat his colleagues with a lot of respect,” she said at a press conference in the Vatican on Friday.

Among the youngest popes were John XXIII. (1958-1963), Paul VI (1963-1978) and John Paul II (1978-2005).

Pope Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, still resides at the Vatican after resigning in 2013.