Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I (; ; born Albino Luciani; ; 17 October 191228 September 1978) served as Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. He was the first pope to have been born in the 20th century. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent year of three popes, the first to occur since 1605. John Paul I remains the most recent Italian-born pope, the last in a succession of such popes that started with Clement
Byzantine Papacy was "not only rare but a 'complete anachronism'". Pope Vitalian (657–672) established a "schola cantorum" to train ceremonial chanters, which was almost entirely "in imitation of its Byzantine model". Vatalian also introduced the celebration of the Easter vespers and baptism at Epiphany, both traditions originating in Constantinople. The "liturgical byzantinization" furthered by Vitalian would be continued by his successors. However, the Latin language made a liturgical resurgence—officially replacing Greek—between 660 and 682; Greek again re-emerged during the papacy of Pope Agatho and his successors. By the beginning of the eighth century, bilingual liturgies were common place, with Greek taking precedence.