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Venice—And A Prince of the Church
VENICE, Italy (NC) - “Venice is a city of saints.”
That was the reaction of a Venetian shop clerk to the election of
the city’s patriarch, Cardinal Albino Luciani, to the papacy.
“Papa Luciani is our third pope in this century,” the woman
continued. “First there was Papa Sarto (St. Pius X), then there was
Papa Roncalli (John XXIII), now we have Papa Luciani (John Paul
I).”
She described Pope John Paul as a man like Pope John. “He is
very humble, very kind,” she said. “Like Pope John, he comes from
peasant stock and he is a man of the people. Here in Venice, he did
not stand on ceremony, instead of using a private motorboat to get
around, he used public transportation.”
“The election of Papa Luciani is good not only for Venice,” the
woman concluded, “but for the church and the entire world. Venice
is truly a city of saints.”
The only sign of recent rejoicing was on the front of the residence
of the patriarch of Venice, next to St. Mark’s Basilica on the fourth
side of the square. There a large banner with the patriarch’s coat of
arms hung from a balcony, flanked by the papal and Italian flags.
The only external marking the residence usually has is a plaque
noting that Angelo Roncalli left this house in 1958 to become Pope
John XXIII.
Not far from St. Mark’s Square, a native Venetian summarized
the views of a number of his fellow citizens, happy at the choice of
the world’s cardinals but not surprised by it.
“Papa Luciani is not quite as familiar as Papa Roncalli, but many
of us think he’s smarter. You can see how smart he is at the very
beginning in taking the name of John Paul. He wants to build on
what his two predecessors have done and go on from there.
“He will be good for the church.”
VENICE VISIT - Pope Paul VI waves
from his gondola along the Grand Canal in
Venice September 16, 1972 during the first
visit by a pope to the city of waterways in
172 years. The man who would succeed him
as pope, Archbishop Albino Lucinai,
patriarch of Venice, is seated at left with
Monsignor Pasquale Macchi. The Church of
San Giorgio is in the background.
FUTURE POPE - At the 1973 consistory
the new Cardinal Albino Luciani, at left next
to Pope Paul VI, celebrates Mass with the
pope and the 28 other new cardinals.
AT CELEBRATION IN GERMANY - The future pope
is shown during one of his rare visits outside of Italy. The
occasion was the 1000th anniversary of the Mainz
Cathedral in Germany. Then patriarch of Venice, Cardinal
Luciani is seated with Cardinal Herman Volk of Mainz.
The Legacy Of Luciani
VENICE, Italy (NC) -- One of the last official acts of Pope John
Paul I as Patriarch of Venice was to name three Episcopal vicars to
better coordinate church activities in key spheres.
The vicars took office Sept. 8 as stipulated in a decree issued by
then Cardinal Albino Luciani July 27, about a month before he was
elected pope.
The vicars, who must consult once a month with heads and
members of post-conciliar bodies within the patriarchate, are
charged with overseeing activities in the following areas:
- Charitable worxs, including traditional church welfare activities,
development of volunteer work and expansion of help for the
elderly, marginal and handicapped.
- Coordination ol activities oi regional and parish councils,
development of the mass media apostolate and ministry to youth
and workers.
- Problems of priests, including ministerial guidance for new
priests, relations among priests in various areas and relations between
priests and Religious, “fraternal contacts” with priests who have left
the ministry or are considering leaving, possibilities for beginning
new ministries (with drug addicts, workers, etc.).
In his decree establishing the posts of episcopal vicar, Cardinal
Luciani said that the vicars must meet monthly with officials or
members of the priests’ and pastoral councils of Venice, the
now-forming laity council, of the workers’ ministry team and of the
federations of sisters and male religious.
In the decree the patriarch promised that he would take further
action soon regarding reorganization of the patriarchal curia (central
offices) and formation of the laity.