'THE SAINTS IN A YEAR' - POPE ST PAUL VI AND HAVING A CATHOLIC HEART

Fr Billy Swan

Here in Vatican City where I live in Rome, St Peter’s Basilica is about fifty meters from my front door. I try to visit it most days to pray and go to the tombs of the Popes, especially the recent ones, who are buried there. One grave that keeps drawing me to it to pray and reflect on the life of the man buried there is that of Pope St Paul VI whose feast day the Church celebrates on 29^th May. There at his simple grave, I ponder how his papacy developed the mission of the Church from an Italian and European centred Church to a universal, catholic family that embraces the joys, sorrows and hopes of all humanity across the globe.

Giovanni Battista Montini was born in 1897 in Brescia in Northern Italy. He was ordained priest in 1920 and for most of his life, he served in the Roman Curia in the Secretary of State, becoming a trusted advisor of Pope Pius XII. In 1954, Montini was named Archbishop of Milan which was and remains, the largest diocese in Italy. He was created Cardinal by Pope John XXIII in 1958 and took part in the Second Vatican Council which began in 1962.

On the death of Pope John during the Council, the conclave elected Montini as his successor, choosing the name of Pope Paul VI. He was immediately responsible for concluding the Council, which he did in 1965, and then to lead the challenging process of implementing its teachings – a task that is still ongoing today, over sixty years later. One Council document that required much implementation and reform was Gaudium et Spes – the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world. Given the large global representation of the Church at the Council, it was natural that this catholic and universal scope of the Church’s mission would need to be developed in the years after Vatican II. This development was overseen by Pope Paul with diplomatic relations being established with nations spanning all continents. In addition, he fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. He was the first Pope to visit the Holy Land in 1964 and was the first to travel outside Italy in over a century. He was the first Pope to address the UN in New York, in 1965.

His most publicised encyclical was Humane Vitae, published in 1968 on the family and human life. Yet many other writings and teachings continue to be prophetic and influential. These include Ecclesiam Suam on the nature of the Church; Marialis Cultis on Marian devotion, Populorum progressio on the development of peoples and Evangelii Nuntianti which inspired Pope Francis in writing The Joy of the Gospel. In 1965, he established the Synod of Bishops as a permanent institution within the Church and one that formed the basis of the current synodal pathway that involves all the baptised.

The universal scope of his mission was carried on after him by Pope St John Paul II and has developed through the papacies of Benedict XIV, Francis and now with Pope Leo XIV. This brings us to today where the figure of the Pope has been firmly established as one of the most important spiritual and religious world leaders whose words reach those within the Church and all women and men of good will around the globe.

Pope Paul VI lived through a very challenging time in world and Church history and suffered much because of it. He died at Castel Gandolfo on 6^th August 1978. Pope Francis beatified Paul VI on 19th October 2014 and canonised him on 14th October 2018.

To be a Catholic Christian is to be part of a universal family of faith. It is a call to love and care for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ around the world and to expand our hearts to embrace everyone. Although our earthly lives begin in a specific place and time, our faith draws us beyond the concerns of our parishes and diocese, to a global vision or solidarity and justice for the whole human family. Having our hearts stretched is painful and challenging but necessary to make room in them for people of every race and nationality. It requires a shift in understanding of who we are and what our faith and love demand. At a historical juncture during the Council and afterwards, Pope St Paul VI extended the Church’s embrace to the ends of the earth.

The death of a self-referential Church and the birth of a global missionary Church, began with him and continues through us.