MEMORIAL: MAY 29
Pope Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista Montini in Northern Italy in 1897. Ordained a priest at the age of 23, Montini worked in the Vatican offices for 30 years until he was named the Archbishop of Milan. As Archbishop, he fought for the dignity of workers and rebuilt a conflicted church after WWII. Montini was named a Cardinal by Pope John XXIII in 1958, and Montini was tasked with helping to prepare for the Second Vatican Council.
After Pope John XXIII died mid council, Montini was elected Pope Paul VI in 1963 and continued the council until 1965. He also ended a nearly millennium old mutual excommunication between the Pope and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. Pope Paul VI instituted 75 as the age bishops must offer their retirement, and Cardinals over 80 were no longer allowed to vote on the pope.
Pope Paul VI is possibly the most known for his encyclical released in 1968, Humanae Vitae. This encyclical was and still is a prophetic document that defends human life. In this encyclical, Pope Paul denounced artificial contraception to the surprise of mainstream media and many within the Church itself. His historic document brought clarity to many issues, and also predicted accurately many results of a culture that accepted artificial birth control. Pope Paul VI died in 1978 and was canonized a saint in 2018.
