Editing Pope John Paul I (section)

===Interpretation of Vatican II===

Luciani had attended all sessions of the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–65) while he was the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto. He had hoped that the council would highlight "Christian optimism" in terms of Christ's teachings against the culture of relativism. He denounced a fundamental ignorance of the "basic elements of the faith" — it was this point that he wished to focus on as opposed to secularism throughout the world.

Luciani told his niece that his diocese actually contained people "of three councils":
*Those stuck at Vatican I, if not actually at the Council of Trent.
*Those "who gladly accept the aggiornamento of Vatican II, seeing it as a grace to improve the relationship between the church and the world."
*"A little group who make the council say things that in reality it does not say, planning a radical rush toward another council that still does not exist, a Vatican III."<ref>[https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/debunking-four-myths-about-john-paul-i-smiling-pope Allen Jr,. John R., "Debunking four myths about John Paul I, the 'Smiling Pope'", ''National Catholic Reporter'', November 2, 2012]</ref>

Shortly after becoming Pope, he laid out the priorities for his papacy. First and foremost would be the continued implementation of Vatican II.<ref>[https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/09/02/explainer-pope-john-paul-luciani-243680 Keane, James T., "Pope John Paul I will be beatified on Sunday. Who was he?", ''America'', September 02, 2022]</ref>

In regard to religious freedom, Luciani wrote about the council's declaration, {{lang|la|[[Dignitatis humanae]]}}. In his writings, he said that there is only one true religion that must be followed and no other, affirming that Jesus Christ is the truth, and that the truth will set one truly free. However, he stated that those that who would not accept the one true Catholic faith, for whatever reason, were indeed free to profess their own religion for various reasons. He continued to state that religious freedom must be freely exercised by the individual: "The choice of religious belief must be free. The freer and more earnest the choice, the more those that embrace the Faith will feel honoured. These are rights, natural rights. Rights always come hand in hand with duties. The non Catholics have the right to profess their religion and I have the duty to respect their right as a private citizen, as a priest, as a bishop and as a State".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/concilio-council-papa-pope-el-papa-luciani-17330/|title= The Second Vatican Council according to Albino Luciani|publisher= Vatican Insider|date= 8 June 2012|accessdate= 19 April 2014}}</ref>