Pope John Paul I will be a short one". On the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, protodeacon Cardinal Pericle Felici announced that the cardinals had elected Albino Luciani, Patriarch of Venice, who had chosen the name Pope John Paul I. It was the first time that a pope chose a double name. He later explained that the double name was taken to gratefully honour his two immediate predecessors: John XXIII, who had named him a bishop, and Paul VI, who had named him Patriarch of Venice and Cardinal. He was also the first pope to designate himself "the First" with the name. (Pope Francis,
Health of Pope John Paul II Health of Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II entered the papacy in 1978 as an avid sportsman, enjoying hiking and swimming. The 58-year-old was extremely healthy and active for his age, jogging in the Vatican gardens to the horror of Vatican staff, who informed him that his jogging could be seen by tourists climbing to the summit of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. The pope's response, according to media reports, was "so what?" When the cost of installing a swimming pool in his summer residence was queried by cardinals, John Paul joked that it was "cheaper than