5o years ago today 80 cardinals of the Roman Church elected Giovanni Battista Montini, the cardinal archbishop of Milan, as the Roman Pontiff to succeed Pope John XXIII.
Pope Pius XII gave to Milan his personal gift in the person of Monitni. He succeeded the Benedictine Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster who is now a blessed of the Church in 1954.
Among the many things he did was to confront communism, sexual “freedoms”, published Humane Vitae, closed the Second Vatican Council, set the stage for a new work of evangelization and he worked for unity among Christians, notably with the Orthodox and the Anglicans. Moreover, he set to work to reform the Roman Curia and he renovated the Roman Liturgy. The latter still a contentious point among some people.
Paul’s cause for sainthood is being studied. Pope Benedict XVI certified that the Servant of God Pope Paul VI did indeed live a life of heroic virtue bestowing the title of Venerable.
Pope Paul VI died on the feast of the Transfiguration in 1978.
Pope Francis, ordained in 1969, maintained the fidelity envisioned by Paul VI at a time when the heterodox were undermining all the initiatives of the Holy Father. His reputation has suffered unjustly, but he was truly a Marian pope, who went to Fatima for the 50th anniversary of the apparitions and gave a wonderful address, and also issued “Marialis Cultis,” one of the finest elaborations on Our Lady’s relationship to the liturgical life of the Church every written.
Having believed too long slanders common from traditional circles, I now pray for his assistance and for his canonization.