What Happened During The Year Of Three Popes?

Counting 1276 CE, the year with four popes, 1978 was the thirteenth time in the history of the Catholic Church that it was led by three or more pontiffs during one year. In 827 CE, Pope Eugene II died in August and was followed by Pope Valentine, who held the office until September. Details about the deaths of Eugine II and Valentine are not clear, but the latter died of “bodily troubles.” Valentine's successor, Gregory IV, was pope from 827 CE to 844 CE.

The year 896 CE saw Popes Formosus, Boniface VI, and Stephen VI, although the latter (also called Stephen VIII, if one counts the unconsecrated Stephen II who held office for three days in 752 CE) was strangled in August 897 CE. His successor, Pope Romanus was deposed in November 897 CE and followed by Pope Theodore II. Exactly when Pope Theodore II died isn't known, but he didn't live past January 898 CE. 

Additional years with three popes include 964 CE (Popes Leo VIII, Benedict V, and John XIII), 1003 CE (Popes Sylvester II, John XVII, and John XVIII), 1045 CE (Popes Sylvester III, Benedict IX, and Gregory VI), and 1187 CE (Popes Urban III, Gregory VIII, and Clement III). The first three popes of 1276 CE were Gregory X, Innocent V, and Adrian V with John XXI as the fourth.

There wasn't a year with three popes again until 1503 (Popes Alexander VI, Pius III, and Julius II). Over the course of the following century, Popes Julius III, Marcellus II, and Paul IV held office in 1555; Popes Sixtus V, Urban VII, and Gregory XIV were pontiffs in 1590; and Popes Clement VIII, Leo XI, and Paul V held the papal see in 1605.

When 1978 began, Paul VI was the pope, but the year would also see John Paul I and John Paul II lead the Roman Catholic Church. 

Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897, Pope Paul VI was elected by the College of Cardinals on June 21, 1963. During his pontificate, Paul VI oversaw the Second Vatican Council, a formative sequence of three meetings considered to have brought the Catholic Church into the contemporary world. 

Pope Paul VI was also the first pontiff to travel to the Holy Land, he introduced the use of the vernacular during parts of the Mass, and he was the first pope to travel via airplane, earning him the moniker the “Pilgrim Pope" due to the number of places he visited.

It's believed that Pope Paul VI's death was, in part, the result of the grief he felt about the death of Aldo Moro, an Italian politician and associate of the pontiff. Moro was kidnapped in March by the members of the Red Brigades, a left-wing terrorist organization. Moro's body was found in May 1978 in the trunk of a car in Rome, having been shot multiple times. 

Pope Paul VI led Moro's funeral mass, his pleas to the Red Brigade having gone unheeded:

I am writing to you, men of the Red Brigades… you, unknown and implacable adversaries of this deserving and innocent man, I pray to you on my knees, liberate Aldo Moro simply and without any conditions.

Paul VI was frail at the service and reportedly was bereft about the death of his friend. Pope Paul VI had a heart attack three months later. Also ailing from arthritis and earlier bouts of the flu, he died at the age of 80. 

After Pope Paul VI's death on August 6, 1978, the papal conclave convened on August 25 at the Vatican. The following day, it as announced that Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice had been elected as the new pope on the fourth ballot.

As Pope John Paul I, the new pontiff indicated in his Urbi et Orbi address that he would continue the “heritage of the Second Vatican Council… preserve the integrity of the great discipline of the Church in the life of priests and the faithful… [and] remind the entire Church that its first duty is that of evangelization.” He also affirmed his predecessor's agenda, especially efforts toward “serene and constructive dialogue” and increasing “peace in our troubled world.” 

Pope John Paul I was able to do very little, however. The first pope born during the 20th century was only 65 years old when he died on September 28, 1978. Known as the “smiling pope” due to his welcoming nature, John Paul I reportedly died of a heart attack. Numerous conspiracies later circulated about his final days, especially after two conflicting reports of his death emerged. In one telling, he'd been found dead by two nuns and, in another, a priest had found him. 

Regardless, the Pope was dead and another papal conclave was forthcoming. 

The sudden death of Pope John Paul I on September 28, 1978 necessitated another papal funeral and subsequent conclave. On October 14, 1978, the College of Cardinals was sequestered in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new leader of the Catholic Church. 

After the eighth vote, white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, indicating a pope had been elected. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland, was chosen and he took the pontifical name of John Paul II. 

Pope John Paul II said during his Urbi et Orbi address once day after being elected on October 16 that he would similarly carry emphasize the reforms from the Second Vatican Council and would be what observers called an “activist pope.” In fact, Pope John Paul II was described by one priest like this:

We have got a boss now, we haven't had one in a long time.

Pope John Paul II was the first pontiff from Poland, he spoke to the people in as many as eight languages when he traveled, and, according to the Vatican, 

No other Pope met as many people as Pope John Paul II. More than 17.6 million pilgrims attended his Wednesday General Audiences (which numbered over 1,160). This does not include any of the other special audiences and religious ceremonies (more than 8 million pilgrims in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000 alone). He met millions of the faithful in the course of his pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. 

Pope John Paul II was also highly engaged in international affairs. He,

received numerous government officials in audience, including 38 official visits and 738 audiences and meetings with Heads of State, as well as 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.