Paul VI

The pontificate of Paul VI (1963-1978) was dominated by the continuation and completion of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, opened by John XXIII: he led its final three sessions and solemnly closed it on December 8, 1965, before implementing its reforms, notably the revision of the liturgy and the promulgation of the new Roman Missal. His teaching was expressed in several landmark encyclicals: Ecclesiam Suam (1964) on the Church's dialogue with the world, Populorum Progressio (1967) on the development of peoples, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (1967) on priestly celibacy, and above all Humanae Vitae (1968), which reaffirmed the Church's doctrine on birth control and sparked lively debates. In 1968, he also proclaimed the 'Credo of the People of God' and instituted the World Day of Peace. Nicknamed the 'pilgrim pope,' he was the first pope of modern times to travel outside of Italy: a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964, where he met Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 1965, and journeys to America, Africa, India, and Asia, including the visit to Manila in 1970 marked by an assassination attempt.

The reputation for holiness of Paul VI is rooted in a spirituality of service and self-denial, exercised during one of the most turbulent periods in the recent history of the Church. A rigorous intellectual and a prudent man of government, he strove to hold together fidelity to Tradition and openness to the changes of the modern world, at the cost of criticism from all sides. The theme of dialogue, which he placed at the center of his programmatic encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, expresses this desire to reach contemporary man without renouncing the truth of the faith. A statement, made shortly after his election, summarizes his inner disposition: he evoked the possibility of having been called not to govern the Church easily, but to "suffer something" for it. His cause for beatification was introduced on March 18, 1993; on December 20, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI recognized the heroic nature of his virtues and declared him venerable, a decisive step in the official recognition of his holiness.

After the recognition of the heroic nature of his virtues by Benedict XVI on December 20, 2012, Paul VI was beatified by Pope Francis on October 19, 2014, in Saint Peter's Square, at the closing of the Synod on the Family. The miracle accepted for the beatification concerned the healing, in the United States, of an unborn child whose doctors predicted serious lesions and whose mother, refusing abortion, had invoked the intercession of the Pope. The second miracle, required for canonization, was recognized on March 6, 2018: it involved the healing of a little Italian girl, Amanda Tagliaferri, whose pregnancy, severely compromised in 2014, was carried to term after her parents had prayed to Paul VI at the Sanctuary of Graces in Brescia. Pope Francis canonized him on October 14, 2018, in Saint Peter's Square, at the same time as Oscar Romero. His optional liturgical memorial was inscribed in the General Roman Calendar by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship on February 6, 2019, on the date of May 29, the anniversary of his priestly ordination in 1920.

The legacy of Paul VI is inseparable from the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, the reception of which he ensured: liturgical reform, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and the internationalization of the Curia and the College of Cardinals. His encyclical Populorum Progressio, on the integral development of peoples and justice between nations, remains a major reference for the social doctrine of the Church, while Humanae Vitae continues to structure Catholic teaching on conjugal life. As the first traveling pope of the contemporary era, he durably imprinted a dimension of proximity and presence in the world upon the pontifical office. His memory is particularly vivid in his native region: Concesio houses the house where he was born and an institute dedicated to his study, and the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Brescia, linked to the miracle of his canonization, is a place of devotion. Honored throughout the Latin Church on May 29, Saint Paul VI is venerated as the pope who knew how to lead the Church through the demanding transition of the Council.