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
Pope John XIX IX was found as a successor, although he was still young; according to some sources, he was only 12, but he was more likely to have been about 18 or 20. The next Pope named John was Pope John XXI (1276–77); there is no Pope John XX (see article on John XX for an explanation). Pope John XIX Pope John XIX (; died October 1032) was Pope from May 1024 to his death in 1032. Born Romanus in Rome was the third son of Gregory I, Count of Tusculum and his wife Mary. While his brother Theophylactus held the papacy