After fifteen years in the Chair of Peter, shouldering immense burdens and vast responsibilities, acting often in an atmosphere of misunderstanding, hostility, controversy and suspicion, Pope Paul VI seemed scarred by pain and bowed by weariness. This intense, gifted and holy man had been poured out during years of devoted service and was preparing now for a judgment he believed would be "hard, but not harsh." His Holiness died on 6 August 1978.



There was a widespread sense of weariness and melancholy among the faithful, too, an almost fatalistic resignation. But those clouds, years in formation, seemed to burn away during the 33 days of grace that were the pontificate of Pope John Paul I. It was a rare heart that wasn't lifted by the September Smile and its message to "be of good cheer." It's hard to imagine that the extraordinary pontificate of John Paul II would have unfolded in the same way and to so great an effect -- hard to think that the message "Be not afraid" would have reached so many hearts -- had not that simple pastor of souls gone before him and in so brief a time prepared a way.



The ceremony of installation of Albino Luciani, Patriarch of Venice, as Pope John Paul I was on this date in 1978.