The Papacy: Saints and Sinners - Research Paper Example

Religion and Theology 24th April, Pope Paul VI (1963- 1978) This paper is a research paper on Pope Paul VI. The paper looks at the life of Paul VI and all the significant events in the life of Paul VI; the paper also looks at the works and the accomplishments of Pope Paul VI. Pope Paul VI was born on 26 September, 1897 as Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini at Sarezzo in North Italy. Montini was born in a wealthy upper-class family, with his father being a lawyer and an advocate of social action (Weigel, 2005). Montini received his early education from the Jesuits near his home in 1916, and he completed his studies and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1920. After his ordination, Montini was sent to Rome to study at the Gregorian University and the Rome University. In 1922, Montini was transferred to the University of the Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici to study Diplomacy. In 1923, Montini was sent to Warsaw in Poland as an attaché of the nunciature. The climate of Warsaw, however, proved to be tough for Montini, and his health started deteriorating, and for this reason Montini was called back to Rome in 1924 (Martin, 2013). In the same year, Montini was assigned at the office of the secretariat of the state where he worked for thirty years. In 1937, under the office of the secretariat of the state, Montini was assigned the role of Substitute for ordinary affairs under cardinal Pacelli. Cardinal Pacelli was the secretary of state under pope Pious XI. With the election of Cardinal Pacelli as pope Pious XII in 1939, Montini was reconfirmed in his position under the new secretary of state, Cardinal Luigi Maglione. When Cardinal Maglione died in 1944, the role of the secretary of state was assumed by the Pope, but Montini continued working directly under the pope. In the year 1953, Pope Pious XII appointed Montini bishop of Milan, although he was not named a cardinal as expected; previously, all the bishops of Milan were named cardinal (Barret, 1964). Though he was not named cardinal by Pope Pious XII, by becoming the Bishop of Milan Bishop Montini became automatically the secretary of the Italian Bishop conference. With the death of Pope Pious XII and the election of Pope John XX11, Montini was named a cardinal by Pope XXIII in the same year, 1958. With the death of Pope John XXIII, cardinal Montini was elected pope on 21stJune 1963, and he chose the name Pope Paul VI (Norwich, 2011). Choice of the name Paul was an indication of his philosophy of his pontificate; Pope Paul VI was an enthusiast of missionary work in spreading the Gospel over all over the world. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Paul VI chose a low profile installation to papacy, rather than the elaborate coronations that his predecessors went through. Briefly, those are the main highlights in the life of Pope Paul VI, prior to his election as pope. In his first message to the world after being elected pope, Paul VI expressed his desire and his wish to continue the work began by his predecessor Pope John XXIII. And true to his words, Pope Paul XXIII continued the work begun by Pope John XXIII. For instance, Pope Paul VI reconvened the Second Vatican council which had automatically been called off following the death of Pope John XXIII, who had originally convened the Second Vatican Council (Matthews, 2013). Also, throughout his papacy, Pope Paul VI had to grapple with the tension between the papacy and the episcopacy; the main tension was on the primacy of the papacy and the collegiality of the episcopate. Pope John XXIII also had grappled with the same challenge throughout his papacy. Pope Paul VI Papacy Pope Paul VI was generally a very humble and simple Pope. On being elected Pope, he did away with the much of the regal splendour of the papacy. Pope Paul VI also donated his own papal Tiara, a gift which he had received from the Archdiocese of Milan, where he had served as an Archbishop (Norwich, 2011). Pope Paul VI donated the Papal Tiara to the National Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is at Washington in USA. The donation of the Tiara was a gift to the American Catholic Christians. As a Pope, Paul VI had a very poor press in comparison with his rather outgoing and jovial predecessor Pope John XXIII. The poor press made the public image of Pope Paul VI to suffer a great deal. But despite this weakness, Paul VI was generally a brilliant man, humble, gentle, reserved, courteous, and deeply spiritual. Pope Paul VI also was the most travelled pope during his time. As a Pope, Pope VI was the first Pope to visit six continents during his papacy. Pope John Paul II, however, was more travelled than him because as a pope, Pope John Paul II travelled to more nations of the world than Paul VI had travelled (Matthews, 2013). Up to date, Pope John Paul II is the most travelled Pope. The main goal of Pope Paul VI in travelling to the six continents was to spread the Gospel to all the corners of the World. By travelling to the six continents, Pope Paul VI emulated the apostle Paul, the name of whom he had adopted, who was known for his zeal in spreading the Gospel, and who had travelled to different places of the world spreading the Gospel. The travelling of Paul VI therefore was an indication of Paul VI commitment to spread the Gospel with the zeal of the apostle Paul. Pope Paul VI on Ecumenism Immediately after being elected Pope, Paul VI met the priests of the Diocese of Rome, and expressed to them his ecumenical ideologies. Paul VI told the priests of the Diocese of Rome that as a Bishop of Milan, he had started ecumenical dialogues with the people of all religions. Pope Paul VI therefore asked the priests of his diocese to respect people of all world religions and to seek contact with the people of all religions and of all walks of life (Hebblethwaite, 1933). Another element of Pope Paul VI efforts in ecumenism is brought out by his efforts in Vatican II Council. Pope Paul VI had requested the fathers in Vatican II Council, who were drafting the Vatican II Council document, to avoid any language that could anger the believers of other religions. In 1964, Pope Paul VI constituted a secretariat for non-Christians known as the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue. A year later, 1964, Pope Paul VI created a new secretariat for dialogue with the non-believers. The main mandate of these secretariats was to ensure that there is a consistent and healthy dialogue between the Catholic Church and the non-Christians and the non-believers (Hebblethwaite, 1933). The secretariats were supposed to ensure that there are no unnecessary tensions between the Catholics and the believers of the other religions. In 1971, Pope Paul VI created a papal office for economic development and disaster assistance. This office was supposed to serve people of all walks of life, irrespective of their religious backgrounds. Again, this was a move to foster good relations between the Catholic Church and the other religions of the world. Pope Paul VI also decreed that the first of every January as the day of World peace, where there would be celebrations for the world peace. This move also was meant to ensure that the religions of the world coexist peacefully with each other. Pope Paul VI, therefore, was an ardent supporter of ecumenism, and he did everything possible during his papacy to ensure that the Catholic Church had good relations with the other religions of the World. Vatican II Council One of the greatest achievement of Paul VI as a pope was the re-convocation and the completion of Vatican II Council. Pope Paul II reopened the Vatican II Council in the 29th September 1963 and the 1965 (Weigel, 2005). In the reopening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI set out the main goals and the priorities of the Council. The first goal of the Vatican II Council was on the need to reform the Catholic Church. During the Second time of Pope Paul VI reign, the church had faced a lot of challenges due to the advancement in technology. The Catholic Church also had faced a lot of challenges due to the protestant movements. Some traditions of the Catholic Church also, like the rule of Celibacy, were being questioned by the believers. For this reason, there was need to reform the Catholic Church, so as to address these challenges. The second aim of the Vatican II set out by Pope VI was a better understanding of the Catholic Church. As we have said above, modernity and advancement in science and technology had raised many challenges to the Catholic Church. For this reason, there was need for the Catholic Church to reflect more on the teaching of the Catholic Church, with a view of understanding the Catholic Church more. The third goal of the Vatican II Council set out by Vatican II Council was the advancing the Unity of Christianity. During the time of Pope Paul VI, the Christians were sharply divided, with the Catholic Church on one side, and the Protestant believers on the other side. Pope Paul VI therefore sought to bridge this wide gulf among the Christians. The Vatican II document addressed this challenge and came up with a document on interreligious dialogue to address these challenges. The forth priority of the Vatican II Council was on the dialogue with the world. The first and the Second World Wars had made the Catholic Church realize that there was really a need for the Church to be constantly involved in a dialogue with the aim of fostering world peace. The Vatican II Council, therefore, set out to address these challenges. The Vatican II Council came up with directive on how the Catholic Church would constantly engage in a dialogue with the world for the sake of the world peace. Pastoral Travels As we have said above, Pope Paul VI was the first pope to traverse the whole world preaching the Gospel. As the result of his travelling all over the world preaching the Gospel, Pope Paul was nicknamed, the Pilgrim Pope (Barret, 1964). In 1964, Pope Paul Travelled to the Holy land. In the same year, he also travelled to India and Colombia. In the year 1965, Pope Paul VI visited the USA, thus becoming the first Pope ever to have visited USA. In the 1966, Pope Paul VI visited Fatima in Portugal. In 1969, Pope Paul VI visited Africa, and in the following year he visited Manila in Philippines. In the 1970 visit to Manila, Pope Paul was the target of an assassination, but the assignation attempt was aborted. In nutshell, Pope Paul VI was an itinerant Pope, and he saw travelling as an effective mean of spreading the gospel. Through the travelling, Pope Paul VI opened new frontiers in the papacy, i.e. spreading the Gospel through travelling all over the world to preach the Gospel. Church Reforms In the year 1965, Pope Paul VI established the synod of Bishops as a permanent institution of the Church mandated to advice the Pope. This move was prompted by the many challenges that Pope Paul VI faced during his papacy. Pope Paul VI had realized that to succeed as a pope he needed the advice from the Bishops of the Church. Pope Paul VI also reformed future papal elections by ordering that only cardinals below the age of eighty were eligible to participate in future papal elections. Theology, Spirituality, and Teachings Pope Paul VI was a deeply devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. During his pontificate, Pope Paul VI made significant contributions in Mariology (The Church teachings on Mary the mother of Jesus). In his encyclical Signum magnum, Pope Paul VI taught that Mary is the model of Christian Perfection. In another encyclical, Christi Matri Pope Paul VI exhausted the Catholic faithful to dedicate themselves to Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ. In the third encyclical on Mary Mense Maio, Pope Paul VI taught that the Month of May is Marian month and called on the Catholics to devote the month to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. In summary, Pope Paul VI regarded devotion to Mary as an important and an integral element of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ fully. During his pontificate, Pope Paul VI wrote a number of encyclicals and letters that clearly demonstrate his theological ideas and his teachings (Martin, 2013). One of the famous encyclicals of Pope Paul VI is the encyclical Humanae Vitae written in 1968. In this encyclical letter, Pope Paul VI rejected the recommendations of a commission set up by Pope John XXIII, and reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s disapproval of the use of contraceptives. This was indeed a controversial decision and Pope Paul VI was severely criticized by the liberal Catholics for being conservative (Villa, 2009). Another important encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI is the encyclical letter Mysterium Fidei (on the mystery of faith).In this encyclical letter, Pope Paul, defended the teaching of the Catholic Church, especially on the Eucharist. Pope Paul VI taught in this letter that the Eucharist is not merely a symbol of body and blood of Jesus Christ, but it is an actual and a real body and blood of Jesus Christ. In the encyclical letter Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (Of the Celibate Priesthood), Pope Paul VI defended and reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s teachings on the need for the Catholic Priests to remain celibate. Pope Paul VI also wrote two social encyclicals letters, Populorum Progressio, and Octogesima adveniens. In these two social encyclical letters, Pope Pau VI discussed various social issues which were of interest to the church. The other major important encyclical letters of Pope Paul VI is the apostolic exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, and the encyclical letter on the Paths of the Church (Ecclesiam Suam). Pope Paul VI therefore was a prolific writer on the issues of the Church. In conclusion, Pope Paul VI assumed the leadership of the Catholic Church at a very turbulent period in the history of the Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI, however, faced the challenges courageously and he reformed the Catholic Church tremendously. Due to his extensive experience in the Roman Curia, Pope Paul also made a lot of reforms in the Roman Curia. Pope Paul VI therefore is an important historical figure in the Catholic Church. Works Cited Barrett, William E. Shepherd of Mankind A Biography of Pope Paul VI. New York City: Doubleday & Company, 1964. Print. Hebblethwaite, Peter.Paul VI: The First Modern Pope.New jersey:Paulist Press,1993.Print. Martin, David.From Some Fissure: The Real Story Behind Pope Paul VI. New York City: David Martin, 2013.Print. Matthews, Rupert. The Popes: Every Question Answered. New York: Metro Books, 2013.Print. Norwich, John J. Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy.New York: Random House, 2011.Print. Villa, Father Luigi.Paul VI Beatified? The book that stopped the beatification process Pope Paul VI.Wisconsin:The Apostolate of Our Lady of Good Success, 2009.Print. Weigel,George. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II.New York City: Harper Perennial, 2005.Print. Wynn, Wilton. Keeper of the keys.New York: Random House, 1988. Print. Read More