Welcome back to Jim's Poppery. I'm Joe Heschmire. And today I want to talk about a pope that

doesn't get a lot of love, doesn't get a lot of attention. Pope John Paul the first. Many of us are

maybe dimly aware that he even exists. And if we know anything about him, it's probably a handful of

relatively superficial facts. Like, for instance, he liked to smile sometimes.

The smiling pope, Albino Luchani, Pope John Paul I.

Joy is the legacy left behind by John Paul I, known as the smiling Pope.

Though he only served as Pope for 33 days,

his characteristic smile and down-to-earth personality was able to reach people from all walks of life.

And that's great. I mean, it's wonderful the Pope liked to smile, but surely there's more to Pope John Paul I first than the fact that he smiled.

It's understandable, of course, that we don't know a ton about him because he was only pope for 33 days.

And just to put that in context, as of today, Pope Leo the 14th has been pope for 274 days.

And I think for most of us, we still think of him as very much a new pope.

It hasn't even been a full year yet.

And if you think about all the popes in the last century, there's only been

nine of them. And that includes John Paul I. But just to put this in perspective, Pope Francis

was Pope for more than 4,400 days. John Paul II was pope for more than 2,800 days. St. John Paul

2nd nearly hit 10,000 days. He's one of the longest reigning

popes in history. And then right before that you've got John Paul I, who's at 33 days, not 3,300, 33 days.

Going back before that, St. Paul the 6th, 5,500 days, John the 23rd, who also has a

pretty famously short pontificate, and still 1,679 days long. Pius to 12th, over 7,000 days,

Pius the 11th, nearly 7,000 days. Pius the 11th, nearly 9,000 days.

Now, as you might imagine, those popes had a much bigger impact on the day-to-day life of the church.

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