WI Pope John Paul I lives?

What if John Paul I did not suddenly die after 33 days as pope, but instead lived well into the 1990s? How would this affect the Catholic Church, politics, the world in general?

(Inspired by the thread on the Godfather series in Non-Political Chat.)
 
Good topic! This is one I’ve mulled over every once and while too. A couple of ideas come to mind:

John Paul I was a very quiet and retiring figure who by all accounts was rather intimidated by his new power and responsibilities. Thus I imagine he would likely be a rather hands-off pope. Though he did have some interesting ideas that he felt rather strongly about, so perhaps if he gets himself a more forceful lieutenant who knows the ins and outs of the curia, he could make some waves.*

I imagine that South America would be an area where some interesting differences would occur. Before he became pope, John Paul I had traveled there (one of the few times he ever left Italy) and was good friends with the Brazilian cardinal Lorscheider. And of course his pontificate would see the rise of liberation theology, which would likely not be suppressed quite as forcefully as OTL, so that could have some political repercussions on the wider world.

John Paul I almost certainly wouldn’t travel as much as JP2 did, nor would he probably come up with World Youth Day, etc. He would likely be viewed as a kind and gentle old man, but wouldn’t have anything close to the mass appeal and star power of JP2. I wonder if without such a powerful central figure, the church might grow more decentralized and regionally-focused. No official changes in structure or hierarchy, but in terms of people’s mindset.

Also: Eastern Europe. No Polish pope to add moral support to Solidarity, etc. But on the flip side, I would be very interested in seeing what kind of a role Cardinal Wojtyla plays back in his native land.

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*IIRC, he once suggested that first-world dioceses should take an active role in supporting their third-world counterparts who were hard-pressed for the resources they needed to run effectively, but who knows if such a policy would ever get enacted.
 
At the time I was led to believe that certain parties in the Curia perceived JP1 and his supporters as more likely to extend/extol the ideas of Vatican 2 than to contain and gently regress some of them.
Well, yes...

...Okay, let's proceed with the assumption that John Paul I was not assassinated but did in fact die of a heart attack.
 
Pope John Paul I
Albino Luciani (1912-1998), Pope from 26 August 1978 until 28 September 1998.

Despite opposition, on 13 July 1982 he published the 3rd Secret of Fatima (65th anniversary), accompanied by his interpretation.

The passages “the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step” and “at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious” led John Paul to believe that it warned of the possible collapse of the organisation and influence of the Catholic Church and the moral or even physical destruction of the Vatican unless the Church heeded the passage, “the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!” John Paul determined that the centralised hierarchical structure was being shown to be corrupting the message of Jesus and urgently sought a way to reorganise before what he believe was the ‘deadline’ of 31 December 1999.

It is now known that he narrowly defeated the many Cardinals etc who were bitterly opposed to his calling of the Third Vatican Council. The hastily convened Council was opened by John Paul on 21 November 1982, who charged its members with the examination of the organisation of the Church and, with divine inspiration, the formulation of a plan to simplify the future structure.

It was soon apparent that the Council was fatally divided, with opposition to the Pope’s call for change being led by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who had succeeded Franjo Seper on 3 September 1978, shortly after John Paul’s election).

As the deliberations dragged on through 1983 and the first half of 1984, a polarisation of views hardened throughout all levels of the Church. On 13 July 1984, two years after his publication of the 3rd Secret of Fatima, the Pope stunned the world by announcing that he was dismissing the Council and would before the end of that year announce plans for the simplification of the Church.

Thus was created the Great Global Schism. Supporters of the Pope were strongest in northern Europe, the Americas, Australasia and Brazil. Supporters of the opposition, “The Defence of the Faith”, were strongest in southern Europe, Latin America (excluding Brazil) and Africa. Asia was a complex mixture of adherents.

From 1990, “The Defence of the Faith” was proclaiming itself the one true faith and in 1992 elected Cardinal Ratzinger as the “True Pope” Pius XIII. While there were many limited outbreaks of violence, in the main the battle was for hearts and minds, with litigation often being used to stop the disposal or occupation of the Church’s assets.

The attack on the Vatican (9 November 1994) by hijacked ‘suicide’ aeroplanes has been blamed on extremist supporters of both factions but was equally condemned by both factions. With 91% of Vatican City destroyed, there remains an ongoing dispute over who has the right to rebuild it. On the day of the attack, John Paul was travelling by helicopter to Milan and thus escaped assassination. The destruction of the Vatican confirmed his belief that his interpretation of the 3rd Secret of Fatima was correct. In 1995 he removed the Papacy to Arnhem, Netherlands. Pius XIII and his followers maintain that Rome is the only place for the headquarters of the Church.

By the time of his death in 1998, Pope John Paul had seen his plans progress to the point where few Bishops remained in his Church and where the number of Parish Priests had declined in favour of peripatetic preachers. His successor took the title ‘John Paul II’ in tribute, but sadly died after only 33 days in office.
 
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