Interview with Pia Luciani,
nephew of John Paul I
by Francesco Marruncheddu
CHow did you, as a family, receive the news of the beatification of your uncle, Albino Luciani, by Pope John Paul I?
We always knew that it would come, that sooner or later it would happen. We welcomed her with joy and also with a lot of normality. We thank the Lord for this gift: not everyone is given to have a blessed uncle! I know families who have a saint among their relatives, but it's not something usual or something you get used to... . For us he was equally "blessed" before, we already considered him a saint, but now it is the Church that officially recognizes him. But it was worth taking it out of the darkness and placing it like a candle on the candlestick…
What do you think is the most significant trait of your uncle's path to holiness?
He truly loved the Lord, he tried to imitate him in his ministry, first as a priest and then as a bishop, using charity towards others, reaching out to those in need, living a very modest life, without luxuries or extra things, with an attitude that was always open to others, and doing what he had to do as best he could. He really reached out to people and tried to help anyone who needed it in any way.
How did your family react, back in 1978, to the news of Uncle Albino's election to the Petrine throne?
As I have said on many occasions, it was a mixture of joy and sorrow. Joy because he was a person who deserved it, even without ever seeking it in any way: after all, in his entire life, he never sought glory or honours. At the same time, as my father said, there was also suffering, because he moved away from us quite a bit more. We were very close to him; for me he was a second father, even if he was only my uncle. Therefore, the fact that with his election as Pope he moved even further away from home was clearly a joy and honor for the family on the one hand, and on the other, displeasure at having him further away.
Did you hang out with your uncle?
I was very close to him; like I said he was like a second father to me, and when he was patriarch I often went to visit him in Venice, which was certainly closer to home, and it was easier to find him there, to be able to meet him.
A memory of your uncle who had now become Pontiff?
I went to see him a few days after the election. I studied at LUMSA, which organized refresher courses for teachers in Rome every year, and I was a literature teacher at middle school. Since uncle Albino was in Rome that year, on the occasion of the annual September course, I took the opportunity to stop by and visit him. I let him know and he said to me: "Pia, you know I don't have much time, but if you don't mind, I'd be happy if you stopped for lunch here with me." So, at the end of the course, before returning home, I stopped by his house in the Vatican and we had lunch together in his apartment in the Apostolic Palace.
Apart from the celebration of the beginning of the Petrine ministry, was it the first time you had met him as Pontiff?
Yes, and it was also the last time we saw each other and had the opportunity to talk as a family.
How did you find it on that occasion? Was he calm?
Yes, he had already organized himself, and had already planned his pontificate. He was a very diligent person, even a little “terrible”, let's say, because I don't know how he did it. He immediately managed to reorganize his life and his day as pope.
Then another surprise, this time dramatic: his sudden death.
it was an immense disappointment, a shock... There had already been the pain of the greater distance recently, then this very painful news arrived. When Sister Vincenza (one of the nuns on duty in the papal apartment, who acted as his nurse and who found Luciani dead, ed.) spoke to me about it, he told me: «I found him there, in bed, with the papers in his hand, smiling, as if he were still reading…».
He was witty, he loved making jokes…
He was a very pleasant person. He had a distinctly humorous way of acting: even when we were sad or had some sorrow, he always looked for a joke to revive us, to console us, to encourage us. He always had that sense of humor that allowed him to approach people and make speaking and meeting him pleasant.
And he managed to make himself understood even by the humblest and simplest...
Yes, it was his desire, his purpose, his characteristic, and he was committed to it. I remember that sometimes, when I went to visit my uncle in Venice, I sat in his study and asked him what he was doing. «I'm preparing a sermon, in fact I just finished it. Read it, so you can tell me if it's understood!".
He wanted to discuss and get my opinion, as well as, for example, that of the nuns who served in the house. I remember that he sat down with them and said: "Sister, can I read you this homily of mine?". «Yes, Eminence, go ahead and read».
And the uncle read. «Beautiful, all beautiful, Eminence!», the nuns commented on the reading, and turning to me, he underlined: «Yes, for them everything is beautiful, even if maybe it isn't, because they love me! According to them, everything I do is fine! But who knows if that's really the case, I hope it's understandable!