Anecdotes and Testimonies of Pope Luciani
Part V
- From "Humilitas" 1992 - 1993
Don Albino and the war
Some testimonies from the Pope’s sister.
"Our
family was engaged a lot in the resistance. We have never been fascist. My
brother, Edoardo, after September 8, 1943, had constituted one brigade of
Catholic partisans. They acted underground. I made the link between them and
Belluno; like some kind of courier. Albino gave advice on what way they had to
move. What had to make, precious information. He was involved a lot. If fact, it
wove the threads of the Catholic resistance in our zone ". To the question
about if it was true that a Fascist’s life was saved by him, who was ready to
be executed by the red partisans, she answered: " Yes, it is true. It was
the teacher who had prepared him for the Institute. He was not a true Fascist;
but, for reasons of good living, he was very compromised with the Fascist
organizations. At night, the communist partisans came and they captured him. The
day after, easrly in the morning, we heard someone knocking at the door. My
mother opened it to find a woman kneeling. It was the teacher’s wife. She
implored : " Make Albino come to the town, I pray you, he only he can
save my husband ". Mother informed soon my brother in Belluno, and he did
not hesitate to come ". - But, what could he do ? " He had a communist
cousin, between the partisans. He went to see him. This cousin, at first, said
he knew nothing about that story. " I am not involved with that
", he said. Albino insisted. He told him : " Look, I know, I know you
are responsible; I will not return to Belluno until you release the teacher
". Then Albino came back home. The hours passed and the anxiety increased.
In the evening, mother asked Albino to return to the cousin, in order to see if
there was news. He did it. From the town a courier had left to go to the
communist partisans. At dawn, the day after, the teacher could embrace his wife.
What times ! How many persons were killed for political hatreds, in those years
".
Buttons like Cardinal’s hats
Referring
to the nomination as Bishop, the Pope’s sister tells: " I could not go to
Rome for the ceremony because my husband was sick. I remember, some month before,
I had been at my brother’s home in Belluno and the newspapers already
vociferated his probable nomination: " We hope that it does not happen
", he said to me. And then, joking with me as he often did : " But you
maybe would be glad of becoming the bishop’s sister ! ". " Albino,
bishop or not, you remain my brother ", I replied to him while laughing. He
often joked on these aspects referred to the ecclesiastical life. Once, when I
was a child, 12 or 13 years, he had become priest since a little time, I was
sewing a sweater and I observed that the buttons looked like Cardinal’s hats.
" Hey, my dear, you cannot cultivate these hopes ! Perhaps I can ...
". He was a joker. I was always happy when Albino came home for a while !
It was possible to laugh with him ".
"
We will go when they will make him a Pope "
" I remember when for his creation as a Cardinal I did not go to Rome. My brother Albino had nearly not told anyone and he did not have any staff organised to accompany him; Edoardo had told me that even he would have gone. Then, on television, I saw him and many others; at the last moment, they had gone to Rome. I felt a little bad : my relatives comforted me: " OK, it means that we will go when they will make him a Pope! ". Then I expressed my sorrow to Albino, and he, from then on, always invited us to pass the day of Christmas and Passover with him, in Patriarchy. From 1970 we always did it ".
"
Very little and very talkative"
From
the Cardinal’s travel to Fatima.
"
He said to me that sister Lucy was " very little and very talkative ".
And it happened many times that, speaking with the relatives of this fact,
Albino became serious, like hit from a serious thought. We had never seen him
worried like that before. The same worry troubled him the evening on August 5,
1978, on the eve of Paul VI’s death. He was with my daughter, Lina, who talked
to him about a friend’s death and he, with a gravity of unusual expression,
said to her : " We must always be ready, because death can come anytime
". It was like if he wanted to drive away a thought. But, to all these
things, we did not attend ourselves. Afterwards, we did! ".
He ceded the escort
As
far as what would his brother have done as a Pope, she answered: " What he
had done all his life: the Priest, especially prayer and Catechism. I think that
he would have provoked something in the Church. You know, my brother was a
simple person, not a simpleton. In Venice this simplicity had made many people
cross, because they did not like the fact that he spoke in a simple and humble
way, that he walked through the city dressed in a cassock, that he did not
want the official escort. The escort, he often ceded it ".
Antonia
Luciani
Is it allowed to smoke ?
" Man full of spirit, who had read and remembered in an extraordinary way, capable of humour in the hardly successive hour to his election: a Spanish Cardinal having asked him the permission to smoke at the table : " Yes - he answered - but... white ‘fumata’ !"
The crosier... a support when he doesn’t know where to hold the hands
August 28th, 1978, 6.00PM. "A new meeting between the Pontiff and Msgr. Noè in sight of the Sunday ceremony. No gestatorial chair! (" when I will be old! "). No attendance to his daily Mass beyond the Nuns and his secretary, don Diego, with whom he concelebrates. Why make the two domestic servants wake up so early (Gusso’s brothers)? They have a family! Regarding the use of the crosier or at least the Cross that Paul VI wore in public, contrarily to the ancient use (the Pope does not have the crosier): he sees a means in order to have a support (like Pope John with his hat) when he doesn’t know where to hold the hands. Noè answers that he is favorable. I answer that I am contrary: " Here I am like the ass of Budidano ". Then he finishes to accept it.
He is not charmed by the popular applause. He remembers similar acclaim received by Pius IX in 1846 : " and then Crosses have come ! For me, the first ones have already come !”.
Card. Jacques Martin
" He has the art of making everybody feel comfortable at his own house, removing every kind of obstacle. If the confidence with God were the hinge of his thoughts and of his actions, the kindness towards others reflected as on a mirror, the same Jesus, mild and humble of heart. The sympathy for the little ones, the humble, the poor, came spontaneously from him, up to the point to make himpay a courtesy visit to the new Prefect of Venice, in order to receive a team of vociferous boys whocame to meet him in patriarchy : I was present and responsible for that unexpected eruption".
A kind reproach ...
"
Some time ago, I met a very kind old man in Venice who,while he was
getting up to the ‘vaporetto’ (Venetian motorboat-bus), recognized me and
immediately talked to me about Patriarch Luciani. At the time of his service as
a door-keeper, he came to know about a small incident that was referred to one
of the best nuns of Maria Child who worked in the patriarchy. During lunch
time, a parish Priest was looking for the patriarch by telephone; the Nun
convinced the Priest to call again later, because she thought that the Patriarch
had a particular need of a moment of calm. When in the afternoon he knew about
that telephone call, Card. Luciani looked for the Nun and, with a kind frankness,
he dissuaded her from similar initiatives, because - he said - if a parish
Priest is looking for the Patriarch at lunch time, it means that the thing is
urgent... and that it doesn’t happen again ! He got in and got out as a host -
said the former door-keeper - and, apologizing for the disturbance, he asked
every time for my family and my little grand-daughter Paola... A Holy man!
"
don Licio Boldrin
"
In order to attest at the binomial, charity and authority, in the action of
Albino Luciani, Msgr. Scalzotto has revealed an unknown episode when he had been
Bishop of Vittorio Veneto : a alluvium had forced several faithful to get
shelter in the parish to spend the night, which had not been much appreciated by
the parish Priest. Informed of the fact by the mayor, Msgr. Luciani, not only
ordered that the faithful could remain in the parish, but the day after, at 5.30
in the morning, visited them in incognito. At the same time, he delivered to the
parish Priest a message written in which he notifies : " Remember here the
parish Priest is me. Consider yourself exonerated". The thing, in fact,
happened punctually ".
Msgr. Tiziano Scalzotto
"
On April 17th, 1978, Card. Luciani, Patriarch of Venice, in quality
of President of the Bishops of the Triveneto, presides the obsequies liturgy for
S.E. Msgr. Vittorio De Zanche’s funeral, former Bishop of Concordia -
Pordenone. At the end of the sacred liturgy, in which several Cardinals,
participated, some thirty Bishops
and more than 400 Priests had taken part, I was accidentally close to His Em.
Card. Luciani. In the sacristy, I help the celebrating Cardinal to put on the
sacred pontifical vestments. At the end, I put on him the overcoat, the hat.
Putting on such personal effects, I said with determined and sincere tone :
" Monsignor, Eminence... look : Venice is dangerous". "Why
?", he asked me. " Because - I added - you will become the third Pope
of Venice; after Cardinals Sarto and Roncalli, you will become the third Pope of
Venice; yes, the third Pope ". It is clear that, not having any familiarity
with Card. Luciani, because neither I have spoken to him, nor I have ever met
before then, mine did not want to be absolutely a joke.
Moreover,
the same circumstance of the funeral of a Bishop friend made every expression
still more inopportune than it seemed to have only the shadow of a joke. Mine
was a conviction that came out from
the depth of my heart and of my spirit: nearly one internal inspiration.
When
that afternoon of August 26th, 4 months later, the white smoke from
the chimney of the Sixtine Chapel announced to the world the election of the new
Pontiff, I nearly shouted with joy within me:
" Now I am running to ring the bells for the new Pope. It will be Card.
Luciani; and his name will be Paul or John". The difference is only
apparent : his name will be John Paul ".
don Matteo Passut
Crosses exchange
Memories
from one of his teachers, don Giulio Gaio.
"
With clear memory and extraordinary property of language he spoke about that
" bocia " (boy) who wrote topics of ten or twelve pages giving
him additional hard work as a teacher. " He was the first one of the class,
a cannon, but I had never noticed in him any feeling of superiority over his
companions". The relationships between teacher and pupil had not been
interrupted due to the seminary. Don Giulio defined them " cordial,
spontaneous, in order not to say, friendly. Which did not prevent them - they
are always his words - from also having discussions, especially on some points
of view about political and ecclesial matters, but which, never disturbed true friendship relationships ". During an interview in 1986, he had
told us: " I have sent don Albino my best wishes on his election to Vittorio Veneto and I have also assured him of my prayer to the Holy
Spirit because He could help him to carry that cross that had fallen on him, - I
have added in my letter, by way of a joke, also in repair to that one to which
he condemned me when he was in IV and V gymnasium with his topics that never
ended! ".
G.M.
"
Today I
have made a Priest happy, but I have unpleased at least ten, who then will not
be much " benevolent " regarding me", Luciani exclaimed at lunch,
after having signed the " nomination " of a " Monsignor "
(...) " Attention that no human government is infallible : think that the
same Providence of God is criticized from the man: if rains, because it is
raining; if it is hot, because it is hot... and so on... "
Also
to Luciani arrived expressions like: " he made a nomination at case...
without discernment ... what is he waiting for providing ? ... he must be more
emphatic, who uses the crosier ". And the Bishop, then, turning the ring at
his finger and setting the skullcap, almost always crooked, exclaims: "
What a misery! What a misery ! The spirits necessities sacrificed to ambitious
dreams, to illusions of self-esteem, to interests and satisfactions of families,
to calculations of avarice, to vanity of the human respect. We are Priests of
Christ, who was immolated Himself for love of the spirits, He was made obedient
until death and death on a Cross".
Then, it was
also observed to him, kindly, that, when he reached a parish, he has no
"red" sign on him, but a humble and unknown style. Then he used to
smile and say: " We also put on a little of red if this serves in order to
save the spirits and go to Paradise ".
don Francesco Taffarel
We
try to ask if John Paul I never pointed out some project for the Pontificate to
Edoardo. And here, unexpected, it came a secret that Edoardo Luciani kept inside
since years ago. A secret that makes us to become dumb.
" Plans
for the Pontificate... Only the indispensable minimum to fulfill the
requirements of the Curia. And do you want to know why? Well, I am persuaded
more and more that my brother Albino knew in advance that his Pontificate had to
last for a very short time, and also for this he did not conceive programs in
long term ".
Immediately it’s
possible to think of John Paul I’s weak health. The overwork, physical and
emotional stress... But Edoardo is not referring to this, when he says that his
brother Pope " knew " he had to die soon. "Look, Albino’s
health it has been said and written too many mistaken things, at least,
exaggerated... I feel like saying he had an iron health; I have been an
artilleryman, of strong constitution, but I would never have withstood the
rhythm of life, normal for him, when he was Patriarch of Venice: alarm clock at
4.30 in the morning; full day until 10.30 in the evening". Why, then, John
Paul I had the premonition that his Pontificate would last " a very short
time "? Here Edoardo Luciani’s amazing answer. " I think that his
premonition about a sudden death, as a Pope, was connected to a long talk that
Albino had with the only one seer of Fatima still alive.
He met sister
Lucy on July 11th , 1977, in Portugal. Just a year before the
Conclave from which he exited as a Pope . It was the Nun herself who wanted to
meet him and be able to speak with him. My brother went out worried from there.
Each time that, in the talks with us he made a reference, he became pale in face.
As if a dark thought worried him in the deep. All we had always remained
impressed. Now, a posteriori, putting together every signal made by my brother
during several talks, everything is clearer. That day the seer said something to
him that was referred, not only to the Church, but also to his life, the destiny
that God prepared for him..."
A
dark premonition regarding the papal election, followed by dramatic and sudden
death ? It seems to be just this the thought, indeed, the deep " persuasion
" of John Paul I’s brother".
Lucio Brunelli
from ‘Il Sabato’
August 28th, 1993
" Pray to
the Madonna for the Pope ", he told the children, and then, perhaps
thinking at the tremendous responsibility of the Shepherd of the Universal
Church, he had added: " Pray for me the Madonna because She didn’t make
me become a Pope ". This was Card. Luciani’s invitation to the children
of Canale D' Agordo. Surely the Madonna will have listened to the innocent
prayers but - as we know - nothing could do it. Card. Albino Luciani had to
become John Paul I. To the humble Patriarch of Venice will not remain that to
regret himself (goodly-natured, it means) with the Cardinals some month after :
" May God forgive you for what you have done to me ... " Sunday before
Paul VI died, July 27th , Card. Luciani was at Premana, a small
mountain town in province of Como. He was walking along the road, enjoying
speaking with people of the place, when there a child, between the general
astonishment, exclaimed with a loud voice: " Mother, look at the Pope!
". The Cardinal sketches a funny smile and says: " No, it is another
one ! " But, the most famous premonitory sign is that given by Paul VI who,
in 1972, visiting Venice, took his stole out and put it on the Patriarch’s
shoulders making him " to become fully red " (" I had never
become so red ", Pope John Paul will say during the first unforgettable
greeting to the faithful the day after the election)".
With the car out of
order at the Conclave ‘doors’
‘The
Assumption day, Card. Luciani is in Rome, in preparation of the Conclave, and
celebrates his Mass in Saint Mark’s church (near Piazza Venezia), from which
he takes the Cardinal title. In the speech, he speaks to the faithful about the
Virgin, Mother of the Church, sister of ours, inviting repeatedly to pray to the
Mother of God for the Pope’s election, for the future Pope. But the Patriarch
minimally doesn’t think about himself. He is so sure of coming back to Venice
that, the same day of the entrance in Conclave, he will go and tell the mechanic
to quickly repair his old car – out of order at the Rome doors : " I
recommend you, do it as soon as possible. I will have to return home (Venice) during the next few days and I wouldn’t know how to pick
up the car if I had to leave it here".
The
Sanctuary and the bowls games
‘But,
let’s make a step back : who was and where did Albino Luciani come from ?
From
a poor family, emigrating father, he knew a childhood of sacrifices and needs.
" a life of misery – his brother Edoardo says -; from May to October, one
went to school barefoot: the rest
of the year, the wooden clogs. After school, we had to lead the cow to the
pasture and to cut the hay... Dad was far away ". Also as a seminarist,
Albino spent the Summers cutting
the hay on the mountain, whilst his father was in a foreign country because of
his job (and he sent money, in order to support the studies of the son who was
in the seminary), it’s mother Bortola’s turn (" a holy woman ") to
guide the family. One of the most beautiful memories of those hard and laborious
years would have been for Albino
the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Pietralba (Bolzano).
There were 60 -
70 km of road between the mountains : they went on foot and the mother herself
carried the flour on her back in order to make the pearl barley to eat.
Priest, Bishop and then Cardinal, Albino would remain faithful to this annual
pilgrimage, remaining sometimes at the convent of the Sanctuary for a short
period of retreat or rest. During this permanence it happened that the Cardinal
went to eat in trattoria in order to approach the pilgrims and people of the
place. Near, there was a bowls
court and here Luciani did not lose the occasion to have one little game of
bowls".
Stefano Andreatta
de "Il Rosario"
n. 19/1978
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