Things to Know about Blessed Paul VI

Pope Paul VI greeting the crowds at St. Peter Square. 

Pope Paul VI is now a step closer to sainthood after Pope Francis proclaimed him blessed in a Beatification Mass on Sunday, October 19. In his short but inspiring homily, Pope Francis gave tribute to Blessed Paul VI calling him a “great Pope, a courageous Christian and a tireless apostle”.

But who is Pope Paul VI? Giovanni Battista Enrico Maria Montini was born on September 26, 1897 in Brescia. In 1963, after the sixth ballot of the papal conclave, he became the 262^nd successor of St. Peter. For 15 years in the papacy, he left the Church his own marks that could be considered his biggest legacies, namely:

Vatican Council II

Pope John XXIII convoked the council but it was Pope Paul VI who continued it, brought it to conclusion and implemented its reforms.

Papal Trips Abroad

He pioneered the Apostolic Trip, which brought him to six continents. He travelled to Holy Land, India and the United Nations (1965), Fatima and Turkey (1967), Columbia (1968), Geneva and Uganda (1969), and the Far East, Australia and Oceania (1970). These visits earned him a nickname “the Pilgrim Pope”.

Humanae Vitae

He authored Humane Vitae, an encyclical that re-affirms the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of marriage, the inviolability of life and the rejection of artificial forms of birth control and abortion.

He may not be as popular as his predecessors or his successors but today the Church remembers him for always not simply as a former pope but more so as a “blessed”.