JOHN PAUL I

born Oct. 17, 1912, Forno di Canale, Italy died Sept. 28, 1978, Rome Latin Johannes Paulus, original name Albino Luciani pope whose 34-day pontificate in 1978 was the shortest in modern times. He was the first pope to choose a double name and did so in commemoration of his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. Born of a poor family, Albino was graduated from the Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained a priest in 1935. Appointed deputy director of the seminary in the Belluno diocese, he taught moral theology, canon law, and sacred art. In 1948 he was made vicar- general of his diocese, and in 1958 he was appointed bishop of Vittorio Veneto. Made archbishop of Venice in 1969, he became a cardinal in 1973. He was elected pope on Aug. 26, 1978, the first pope with a pastoral rather than a diplomatic or scholarly background since Pius X (reigned 190314). He died of a heart attack.