Column: Fr Vincent Stapleton pens a letter to Pope John Paul I

To most illustious Pope John Paul 1

(Yes, that really does read Pope John Paul the FIRST … I don’t want this letter to be sent by accident to Pope John Paul II)
I have been meaning to write to you for a long time. Some months ago, I found myself at a low ebb, in the middle of a ten-day isolation during the pandemic and feeling very sorry for myself.

It was then that I picked up your wonderful book, Illustrissimi (the Italian word for ‘Most Illustrious’). It contains a series of letters that you wrote to such famous people as Charles Dickens, Pinocchio, Sir Walter Scott, St. Therese of Lisieux and of course Jesus himself.

Your beautiful book was just what the doctor ordered. It brought light to my soul and a smile to my face. And now I am shamelessly copying you as I write my own little set of letters.

Fr Vincent Stapleton

I have some delightful news for you. As you are well aware from your vantage point in heaven, you have been very much overshadowed by your inspirational successor, Pope John Paul II. After all, he had twenty-eight years to make a splash, while you only got thirty-three days on the seat of St. Peter. The news has come through recently, quite unexpectedly, that you are to be beatified on September 4th next.

I am sure you have been watching things unfold with amazement since your departure. For instance, do you know that you are the subject of one of the great conspiracy theories of our era. It really does seem that you died of a heart attack.

However, some facts surrounding the discovery of your body became muddled. Now there are several conspiracies as to how you died and questions as to whether you were murdered and what the motive might be or if the mafia were involved. I am sure you are flattered by all the interest.

Ours is truly an era of conspiracy theories. Any controversial subject seems to attract a great number of opinions on hidden powers who are pulling the strings and directing affairs behind the scenes for some evil intention. Among the most famous of these theories are the assassination of JFK, the moon-landing, alien encounters, the third secret of Fatima and whether Elvis is still alive or not. All of these conspiracy theories are well beyond the reach of my little mind.

When you wrote your letter to Marconi in the 70’s, you were amazed by colour television, video-cassettes, transistors, satellites and radar. You would be surprised to learn that video-cassettes now belong in museums! We have gone another quantum leap with the growth of the Internet and the phenomenon of social media. And while this allows people to connect and access information in a way that you could never have imagined in 1978, it allows baseless theories and fake news to fly around the world like feathers on a windy day. This causes much anxiety for ordinary people.

Then there is the reality of confirmation bias – where someone who adopts a certain belief or theory will only read articles or information that confirm what they already think or believe. There is a fear of listening to any different opinion. This happens a lot on the internet because the algorithms usually suggest similar articles to the ones we have been reading already. And it digs the hole deeper.

In any case, this explosion of conspiracy theories is a sign that the glue of trust is growing weaker among us. Fear is the dominant currency.

However, I take my cue from you, dear Pope Luciani – because you are known affectionately in your native Italy and across the world as the smiling Pope and even by some as the smile of God. And you teach us that if we wish to rebuild trust in our world, it must begin with yours truly.

By your smile, your warmth, your kindness and your sincerity, you inspired trust in others. And these simple gestures are resources that we can all find in our arsenal and we can use them at any time that we choose.

Put in a word above for everyone who reads this, that we might all become more trust-worthy. Arrivederci Amico!