dpaRomePope Francis beatified Pope John Paul I in a ceremony on Sunday at St Peter’s Square in Rome John Paul I, born in 1912 in northern Italy, became pope in August 1978 and died just 33 days later, at the age of 65.Speculation has surrounded his death since, but Stefania Falasca, the deputy postulator for John Paul I, said at a press conference earlier this week that all documents and medical evidence point to a heart attack.John Paul I fulfilled the final condition for beatification when Pope Francis recognized as a miracle an event in which an incurably ill 11-year-old girl in Buenos Aires regained her health after a priest prayed to John Paul I.Described as the “smiling Pope”, John Paul I was the shortest-serving pope since 1605.John Paul I was born Albino Luciani, the son of a bricklayer in the Dolomite mountains in Italy.During his brief tenure, he defended the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion and contraception but he also sought to reform institutions and root out corruption.Pope Francis described the him as someone who “lived without compromise”.John Paul I died of a heart attack on 28 September 1978.His death caused much controversy - and conspiracy theories - due to two slightly differing accounts.The Vatican said he was found dead by two nuns.Initially, however, it had said a priest had found him - uneasy with the fact that women had entered the Pope’s private quarters.For an individual to be beatified, a miracle needs to be attributed to prayers made to them after their death.The miracle attributed to the now beatified Pope was the healing of an 11-year-old girl after her parents had prayed to Pope John Paul I.In the last 1,000 years, just eight popes have been made saints.
