Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
29 May - St Paul VI, pope 1897-1978
Summary of Pope St Paul VI - Giovanni Baptista Montini. (1897-1978), became a reforming pope in 1963. He reigned during a period of great change and ferment in the Church following the Second Vatican Council.
Giovanni Montini was born September 26, 1897, in Concesio, near Brescia in Italy, the son of a lawyer/journalist/local political figure—and of a mother belonging to the same social background.
He was in his early years educated mainly at home because of frail health. Later he studied in Brescia. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1920, he was sent by his bishop to Rome for higher studies and was eventually recruited for the Vatican diplomatic service.
First Assignment
This occurred in May 1923, when Giovanni was sent to the staff of the apostolic nunciature (papal ambassador’s post) in Warsaw, but persistent ill health brought him back to Rome before the end of that same year. He then pursued special studies at the Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for future Vatican diplomats, and at the same time resumed work at the Vatican Secretariat of State, where he remained in posts of increasing importance for more than 30 years.
Pope Paul VI
In 1953 he declined an invitation to be elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1953. In the beginning of November 1954, Pope Pius XII appointed him archbishop of Milan. Pope John XXIII named him a cardinal in 1958. He was elected pope on June 21, 1963, choosing to be known as Pope Paul VI.
His pontificate was confronted with the problems and uncertainties of a church facing a new role in the contemporary world. His philosophical attitude was often construed by his critics as timidity, indecision, and uncertainty. Nonetheless, many of Paul VI’s decisions in these crucial years called for much courage.
'Humanae Vitae'
In July 1968 he published his encyclical Humanae Vitae (“Of Human Life”), which reaffirmed the stand of several of his predecessors on the long-smouldering controversy over artificial means of birth control, which he opposed. In many sectors this encyclical provoked adverse reactions that may be described as the most violent attacks on the authority of papal teaching in modern times. Similarly, his firm stand on the retention of priestly celibacy (Sacerdotalis caelibatus, June 1967) evoked much harsh criticism. Paul VI later likened the large numbers of priests leaving the ministry to a “crown of thorns.” He also was disturbed by the growing numbers of religious men and women asking for release from vows or who were abandoning out of hand their religious vows.
Social Problems
From the very outset of his years as pope, Paul VI gave clear evidence of the importance he attached to the study and solution of social problems and to their impact on world peace. Social questions had already been prominent in his far-reaching pastoral program in Milan (1954–63).
Travelling Pope
During those years he had travelled extensively in the Americas and in Africa, centring his attention mainly on concern for workers and for the poor. Such problems dominated his first encyclical letter, Ecclesiam suam (“His Church”), August 6, 1964, and later became the insistent theme of his celebrated Populorum progressio (“Progress of the Peoples”), March 26, 1967. This encyclical was such a pointed plea for social justice that in some conservative circles the pope was accused of Marxism.
Paul's Concerns for Unity
Paul VI’s human concern found clear expression in his efforts to lessen the long-standing tensions between the church of Rome and other churches and even with those professing no religion at all. He sought closer understanding with numerous religious leaders throughout the world, both Christian and non-Christian, placing more emphasis on those aspects that unite the churches than on those that divide. To show that mutual acquaintance is at the very foundation of any plans or hopes for unity, Pope Paul met with prominent religious leaders from various communities in Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as well as other countries. Paul VI also set up a special secretariat for nonbelievers, stressing the need of understanding and endeavouring to solve the problems posed by atheism.
Intermarriages
Under his guidance the Roman Catholic Church drastically revised its legislation governing marriages between its own members and those who profess other faiths, expressing a firm desire to diminish the threat of human tragedy following possible clashes of individual consciences. For this reason Paul VI’s 'motu proprio'(a type of papal document) was welcomed and praised for its understanding of human problems and its desire to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of mixed marriages without demanding of either side any renunciation of basic principles of conscience.
Paul and Vatican II
The Montini pontificate began in the period following the difficult first session of the Second Vatican Council, in which the new pope had played an important, though not spectacular, part. His lengthy association with university students in the stormy atmosphere of the early days of the fascist regime in Italy, in combination with the generally philosophical bent of his mind—developed by a long-standing habit of extensive and reflective reading—enabled him to bring to the perplexing problems of the times an academic understanding, coupled with the knowledge derived from long years of practical diplomatic experience.
Paul VI guided the three remaining sessions of the Second Vatican Council, often developing points he had first espoused as cardinal archbishop of Milan. His chief concern was that the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century should be a faithful witness to the tradition of the past, except when tradition was obviously anachronistic.
Upon the completion of the council (Dec. 8, 1965), Paul VI was confronted with the formidable task of implementing its decisions, which affected practically every facet of church life. He approached this task with a sense of the difficulty involved in making changes in centuries-old structures and practices—changes rendered necessary by many rapid transformations in the social, psychological, and political milieu of the 20th century. Paul VI’s approach was consistently one of careful assessment of each concrete situation, with a sharp awareness of the many varied complications that he believed could not be ignored and most famous for reaffirming the Catholic church's ban on artificial contraception.
Church 'splits'
A wide swath of Catholics, especially in the U.S. and Europe, were furious over Paul's decision. They were convinced that the ban would be lifted and that Paul was shutting down the reforms that had begun a few years earlier with momentous changes adopted by the Second Vatican Council. Many conservatives, on the other hand, hailed "Humanae Vitae" for reasserting traditional doctrine. This division foreshadowed the deep splits that have lasted over decades.
Paul VI, the Refomer
Chief among his achievments was his call for a more missionary church that would be open to the world and one that would dialogue with other Christians and other believers, and with nonbelievers, too. "For us, Paul VI was the great light," Pope Francis recently said of Paul VI referring to his years as a young priest. He was also a vocal champion of the church's social justice teachings, and he sought to embed those concepts as foundation stones of Catholic doctrine. He also implemented a system of regular meetings of bishops, called synods, to promote a more collaborative, horizontal church.
Paul VI, an 'Evangelical' Pope.
Pope Francis also said that the key to Paul's pontificate was his 1975 exhortation on evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi ("On Proclaiming the Gospel"), which Francis has called "the greatest pastoral document written to date." In that landmark document -- largely overshadowed by the contraception encyclical, Paul VI said that the church itself "has a constant need of being evangelized," and he wrote that people today listen "more willingly to witnesses than to teachers," so Catholic leaders above all must practice what they preach. "The world calls for, and expects from us,
*simplicity of life,
*the spirit of prayer,
*charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor,
*obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice.
*Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man, it risks being vain and sterile,"
Paul wrote in words that could have come from the pen of Pope Francis. In fact, in November 2013, Francis sent a personal representative to a meeting of the U.S. bishops and had him read those passages to the hierarchy, followed by clear instructions that Francis, like Paul before him, "wants 'pastoral' bishops, not bishops who profess or follow a particular ideology."
Paul discarded the papal triple tiara and other trappings of the monarchical papacy, sending a message
"that the pope was not a king, but a bishop, a pastor,and a servant,"
as the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put it in one of its tributes.
Paul VI, a 'Pilgrim' pope
Elected in 1963 on the death of St. John XXIII, amid intense debates among bishops at the Second Vatican Council, the former Cardinal Giovanni Montini inherited the difficult task of seeing the council through to its conclusion in 1965. In the following years, he pushed through the council's changes, including updating the liturgy from Latin to the vernacular and completing a major reorganization of the Roman Curia. Paul was the original "pilgrim pope," the first pontiff to travel outside Italy in the modern era.
On his first trip, Paul met the Eastern Orthodox patriarch in Jerusalem in 1964, and during Paul's eight other foreign journeys he visited Asia (-where a knife-wielding artist in the Philippines tried to stab him) -- Africa and Latin America. In 1965, Paul became the first pope to visit the U.S., and delivered a ringing denunciation of war to the United Nations General Assembly. Paul's motto: "No one defeated; everyone convinced."
Pope Paul was never destined to become a star the way some other popes were. "Critiqued by the left over birth control and by the right for reforms to the liturgy, Paul in his last years was depicted as a Hamlet-like figure of equivocation.
A 'sad 'pope
His end did seem tragic, as he aged rapidly under the burdens of the office, governing the church at a time of massive social upheavals abroad and close to home. In the spring of 1978, a long time friend of Paul's and a prominent Italian political leader, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and executed by left-wing terrorists in Italy despite an impassioned appeal by the anguished pope. Pope Paul died of a heart attack three months later, "one of the holiest and most loving of Popes" but also "one of the saddest," commented the editors of the Catholic magazine Commonweal at the time.
Giovanni Montini was born September 26, 1897, in Concesio, near Brescia in Italy, the son of a lawyer/journalist/local political figure—and of a mother belonging to the same social background.He was in his early years educated mainly at home because of frail health. Later he studied in Brescia. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1920, he was sent by his bishop to Rome for higher studies and was eventually recruited for the Vatican diplomatic service.
First Assignment
This occurred in May 1923, when Giovanni was sent to the staff of the apostolic nunciature (papal ambassador’s post) in Warsaw, but persistent ill health brought him back to Rome before the end of that same year. He then pursued special studies at the Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for future Vatican diplomats, and at the same time resumed work at the Vatican Secretariat of State, where he remained in posts of increasing importance for more than 30 years.
Pope Paul VI
In 1953 he declined an invitation to be elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1953. In the beginning of November 1954, Pope Pius XII appointed him archbishop of Milan. Pope John XXIII named him a cardinal in 1958. He was elected pope on June 21, 1963, choosing to be known as Pope Paul VI.
His pontificate was confronted with the problems and uncertainties of a church facing a new role in the contemporary world. His philosophical attitude was often construed by his critics as timidity, indecision, and uncertainty. Nonetheless, many of Paul VI’s decisions in these crucial years called for much courage.
'Humanae Vitae'
In July 1968 he published his encyclical Humanae Vitae (“Of Human Life”), which reaffirmed the stand of several of his predecessors on the long-smouldering controversy over artificial means of birth control, which he opposed. In many sectors this encyclical provoked adverse reactions that may be described as the most violent attacks on the authority of papal teaching in modern times. Similarly, his firm stand on the retention of priestly celibacy (Sacerdotalis caelibatus, June 1967) evoked much harsh criticism. Paul VI later likened the large numbers of priests leaving the ministry to a “crown of thorns.” He also was disturbed by the growing numbers of religious men and women asking for release from vows or who were abandoning out of hand their religious vows.
Social Problems
From the very outset of his years as pope, Paul VI gave clear evidence of the importance he attached to the study and solution of social problems and to their impact on world peace. Social questions had already been prominent in his far-reaching pastoral program in Milan (1954–63).
Travelling Pope
During those years he had travelled extensively in the Americas and in Africa, centring his attention mainly on concern for workers and for the poor. Such problems dominated his first encyclical letter, Ecclesiam suam (“His Church”), August 6, 1964, and later became the insistent theme of his celebrated Populorum progressio (“Progress of the Peoples”), March 26, 1967. This encyclical was such a pointed plea for social justice that in some conservative circles the pope was accused of Marxism.
Paul's Concerns for Unity
Paul VI’s human concern found clear expression in his efforts to lessen the long-standing tensions between the church of Rome and other churches and even with those professing no religion at all. He sought closer understanding with numerous religious leaders throughout the world, both Christian and non-Christian, placing more emphasis on those aspects that unite the churches than on those that divide. To show that mutual acquaintance is at the very foundation of any plans or hopes for unity, Pope Paul met with prominent religious leaders from various communities in Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as well as other countries. Paul VI also set up a special secretariat for nonbelievers, stressing the need of understanding and endeavouring to solve the problems posed by atheism.
Intermarriages
Under his guidance the Roman Catholic Church drastically revised its legislation governing marriages between its own members and those who profess other faiths, expressing a firm desire to diminish the threat of human tragedy following possible clashes of individual consciences. For this reason Paul VI’s 'motu proprio'(a type of papal document) was welcomed and praised for its understanding of human problems and its desire to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of mixed marriages without demanding of either side any renunciation of basic principles of conscience.
Paul and Vatican II
The Montini pontificate began in the period following the difficult first session of the Second Vatican Council, in which the new pope had played an important, though not spectacular, part. His lengthy association with university students in the stormy atmosphere of the early days of the fascist regime in Italy, in combination with the generally philosophical bent of his mind—developed by a long-standing habit of extensive and reflective reading—enabled him to bring to the perplexing problems of the times an academic understanding, coupled with the knowledge derived from long years of practical diplomatic experience.Paul VI guided the three remaining sessions of the Second Vatican Council, often developing points he had first espoused as cardinal archbishop of Milan. His chief concern was that the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century should be a faithful witness to the tradition of the past, except when tradition was obviously anachronistic.
Upon the completion of the council (Dec. 8, 1965), Paul VI was confronted with the formidable task of implementing its decisions, which affected practically every facet of church life. He approached this task with a sense of the difficulty involved in making changes in centuries-old structures and practices—changes rendered necessary by many rapid transformations in the social, psychological, and political milieu of the 20th century. Paul VI’s approach was consistently one of careful assessment of each concrete situation, with a sharp awareness of the many varied complications that he believed could not be ignored and most famous for reaffirming the Catholic church's ban on artificial contraception.
Church 'splits'
A wide swath of Catholics, especially in the U.S. and Europe, were furious over Paul's decision. They were convinced that the ban would be lifted and that Paul was shutting down the reforms that had begun a few years earlier with momentous changes adopted by the Second Vatican Council. Many conservatives, on the other hand, hailed "Humanae Vitae" for reasserting traditional doctrine. This division foreshadowed the deep splits that have lasted over decades.
Paul VI, the Refomer
Chief among his achievments was his call for a more missionary church that would be open to the world and one that would dialogue with other Christians and other believers, and with nonbelievers, too. "For us, Paul VI was the great light," Pope Francis recently said of Paul VI referring to his years as a young priest. He was also a vocal champion of the church's social justice teachings, and he sought to embed those concepts as foundation stones of Catholic doctrine. He also implemented a system of regular meetings of bishops, called synods, to promote a more collaborative, horizontal church.
Paul VI, an 'Evangelical' Pope.
Pope Francis also said that the key to Paul's pontificate was his 1975 exhortation on evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi ("On Proclaiming the Gospel"), which Francis has called "the greatest pastoral document written to date." In that landmark document -- largely overshadowed by the contraception encyclical, Paul VI said that the church itself "has a constant need of being evangelized," and he wrote that people today listen "more willingly to witnesses than to teachers," so Catholic leaders above all must practice what they preach. "The world calls for, and expects from us,
*simplicity of life,
*the spirit of prayer,
*charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor,
*obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice.
*Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man, it risks being vain and sterile,"
Paul wrote in words that could have come from the pen of Pope Francis. In fact, in November 2013, Francis sent a personal representative to a meeting of the U.S. bishops and had him read those passages to the hierarchy, followed by clear instructions that Francis, like Paul before him, "wants 'pastoral' bishops, not bishops who profess or follow a particular ideology."
Paul discarded the papal triple tiara and other trappings of the monarchical papacy, sending a message
"that the pope was not a king, but a bishop, a pastor,and a servant,"
as the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put it in one of its tributes.
Paul VI, a 'Pilgrim' pope
Elected in 1963 on the death of St. John XXIII, amid intense debates among bishops at the Second Vatican Council, the former Cardinal Giovanni Montini inherited the difficult task of seeing the council through to its conclusion in 1965. In the following years, he pushed through the council's changes, including updating the liturgy from Latin to the vernacular and completing a major reorganization of the Roman Curia. Paul was the original "pilgrim pope," the first pontiff to travel outside Italy in the modern era.
On his first trip, Paul met the Eastern Orthodox patriarch in Jerusalem in 1964, and during Paul's eight other foreign journeys he visited Asia (-where a knife-wielding artist in the Philippines tried to stab him) -- Africa and Latin America. In 1965, Paul became the first pope to visit the U.S., and delivered a ringing denunciation of war to the United Nations General Assembly. Paul's motto: "No one defeated; everyone convinced."
Pope Paul was never destined to become a star the way some other popes were. "Critiqued by the left over birth control and by the right for reforms to the liturgy, Paul in his last years was depicted as a Hamlet-like figure of equivocation.
A 'sad 'popeHis end did seem tragic, as he aged rapidly under the burdens of the office, governing the church at a time of massive social upheavals abroad and close to home. In the spring of 1978, a long time friend of Paul's and a prominent Italian political leader, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and executed by left-wing terrorists in Italy despite an impassioned appeal by the anguished pope. Pope Paul died of a heart attack three months later, "one of the holiest and most loving of Popes" but also "one of the saddest," commented the editors of the Catholic magazine Commonweal at the time.
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Memorable Sayings for Today
In youth, the days are short and the years are long.
In old age, the years are short and the days are long.
also
Whatever you want to do, do it now!
There are only so many tomorrows.
~ St Pope Paul VI ~
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Liturgical Readings for: Friday, 29th May, 2026
Friday of the Eigth Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Saint of the Day: 22 May; Pope St Paul VI
C/f A short life of be this saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Peter 4: 7-13
Like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others.
Everything will soon come to an end, so, to pray better, keep a calm and sober mind. Above all, never let your love for each other grow insincere, since love covers over many a sin. Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling. Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others.
If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God;
if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at God's orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
My dear people, you must not think it unaccountable that you should be tested by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 95: 10-13. R/v 10
Response The Lord comes to rule the earth.
1. Proclaim to the nations: 'God is king.' The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness. Response
2. Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad. Let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice, all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes, he comes to rule the earth. Response
3. With justice he will rule the world, he will judge the peoples with his truth. Response
Gospel Acclamation 1 Jn 2: 5
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord, and teach me your command.
Alleluia!
or Jn 15: 16
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last. says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 11: 11-26 Glory to you, O Lord
My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. Have faith in God.
After he had been acclaimed by the crowds, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked all round him, but as it was now late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Next day as they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree. 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again' he said. And his disciples heard him say this.
So they reached Jerusalem and he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling pigeons. Nor would he allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. And he taught them and said, 'Does not scripture say: My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples? But you have turned it into a robbers' den.' This came to the ears of the chief priests and the scribes, and they tried to find some way of doing away with him; they were afraid of him because the people were carried away by his teaching. And when evening came he went out of the city.
Next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered to the roots. Peter remembered. 'Look, Rabbi,' he said to Jesus 'the fig tree you cursed has withered away.'
Jesus answered, 'Have faith in God. I tell you solemnly, if anyone says to this mountain, "Get up and throw yourself into the sea", with no hesitation in his heart but believing that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. I tell you therefore: everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your failings either. '
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Friday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Mark 11:11-26
In our gospel reading the evangelist, Mark, places the story of Jesus and the Temple in the middle of another story about Jesus and the fig tree. It is likely that Mark saw a connection between the fig tree and the Temple. When Jesus came to the fig tree looking for fruit, he found none on it. Likewise, Jesus did not find the kind of fruit in the Temple that he was expecting. According to the prophet Isaiah, whom Jesus quotes in the gospel reading, the Temple was intended by God to be a ‘house of prayer for all the peoples’. It wasn’t only for the Jewish people but for all peoples. Indeed, there was a special court within the Temple complex which was set aside for pagans.
However, it seems that this court of the Gentiles, as it was called, had been taken over for all kinds of commercial activities such as the selling of animals for sacrifice and the exchange of money from the normal Roman coinage into one that was acceptable within the Temple area. All this was necessary work but it should not have been happening in the court of the Gentiles, thereby preventing pagans from gathering in the place assigned to them. When Jesus saw what was happening he became angry and began clearing the court of the Gentiles.
The Temple was not being administered in the way God intended; it was like the barren fig tree. The gospel reading reminds us that the Lord calls every institution to account, including every religious institution. The institution of the church is always in need of reform so that it reflects God’s purpose for it. We can never allow ourselves to become complacent. What is true of the church as a whole is true of each one of us who make up the church. We have to continually open ourselves to the reforming and purifying work of the Lord. Such work is always a work of love because it comes from a heart which seeks our present and ultimate well-being. ________________________________
The scripture readings are taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/ The Gospel reflection comes from: Weekday Reflections for the Liturgical Year ‘LET THE WORD OF GOD DWELL IN YOU' by Martin Hogan, published by The Messenger c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Saint of the Day: 22 May; Pope St Paul VI
Giovanni Baptista Montini. (1897-1978), became a reforming pope in 1963. He reigned during a period of great change and ferment in the Church following the Second Vatican Council.
Giovanni Montini was born September 26, 1897, in Concesio, near Brescia in Italy, the son of a lawyer/journalist/local political figure—and of a mother belonging to the same social background. He was in his early years educated mainly at home because of frail health. Later he studied in Brescia. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1920, he was sent by his bishop to Rome for higher studies and was eventually recruited for the Vatican diplomatic service.First Assignment
This occurred in May 1923, when Giovanni was sent to the staff of the apostolic nunciature (papal ambassador’s post) in Warsaw, but persistent ill health brought him back to Rome before the end of that same year.
He then pursued special studies at the Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for future Vatican diplomats, and at the same time resumed work at the Vatican Secretariat of State, where he remained in posts of increasing importance for more than 30 years.
Pope Paul VI
In 1953 he declined an invitation to be elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1953. In the beginning of November 1954, Pope Pius XII appointed him archbishop of Milan. Pope John XXIII named him a cardinal in 1958. He was elected pope on June 21, 1963, choosing to be known as Pope Paul VI. His pontificate was confronted with the problems and uncertainties of a church facing a new role in the contemporary world. His philosophical attitude was often construed by his critics as 'timidity, indecision, and uncertainty'. Nonetheless, many of Paul VI’s decisions in these crucial years called for much courage.
'Humanae Vitae'
In July 1968 he published his encyclical 'Humanae Vitae' (“Of Human Life”), which reaffirmed the stand of several of his predecessors on the long-smouldering controversy over artificial means of birth control, which he opposed. In many sectors this encyclical provoked adverse reactions that may be described as the most violent attacks on the authority of papal teaching in modern times.
Similarly, his firm stand on the retention of priestly celibacy (Sacerdotalis caelibatus, June 1967) evoked much harsh criticism. Paul VI later likened the large numbers of priests leaving the ministry to a “crown of thorns.” He also was disturbed by the growing numbers of religious men and women asking for release from vows or who were abandoning out of hand their religious vows.
Social Problems
From the very outset of his years as pope, Paul VI gave clear evidence of the importance he attached to the study and solution of social problems and to their impact on world peace. Social questions had already been prominent in his far-reaching pastoral program in Milan (1954–63).
Travelling Pope
During those years he had travelled extensively in the Americas and in Africa, centring his attention mainly on concern for workers and for the poor. Such problems dominated his first encyclical letter, Ecclesiam suam (“His Church”), August 6, 1964, and later became the insistent theme of his celebrated Populorum progressio (“Progress of the Peoples”), March 26, 1967. This encyclical was such a pointed plea for social justice that in some conservative circles the pope was accused of Marxism.
Paul's Concerns for Unity
Paul VI’s human concern found clear expression in his efforts to lessen the long-standing tensions between the church of Rome and other churches and even with those professing no religion at all. He sought closer understanding with numerous religious leaders throughout the world, both Christian and non-Christian, placing more emphasis on those aspects that unite the churches than on those that divide. To show that mutual acquaintance is at the very foundation of any plans or hopes for unity, Pope Paul met with prominent religious leaders from various communities in Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union as well as other countries. He also set up a special secretariat for nonbelievers, stressing the need of understanding and endeavouring to solve the problems posed by atheism.
Intermarriages
Under his guidance the Roman Catholic Church drastically revised its legislation governing marriages between its own members and those who profess other faiths, expressing a firm desire to diminish the threat of human tragedy following possible clashes of individual consciences. For this reason Paul VI’s 'motu proprio'(a type of papal document) was welcomed and praised for its understanding of human problems and its desire to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of mixed marriages without demanding of either side any renunciation of basic principles of conscience.
Paul and Vatican II
The Montini pontificate began in the period following the difficult first session of the Second Vatican Council, in which the new pope had played an important, though not spectacular, part. His lengthy association with university students in the stormy atmosphere of the early days of the fascist regime in Italy, in combination with the generally philosophical bent of his mind—developed by a long-standing habit of extensive and reflective reading—enabled him to bring to the perplexing problems of the times an academic understanding, coupled with the knowledge derived from long years of practical diplomatic experience.Paul VI guided the three remaining sessions of the Second Vatican Council, often developing points he had first espoused as cardinal archbishop of Milan. His chief concern was that the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century should be a faithful witness to the tradition of the past, except when tradition was obviously anachronistic.
Upon the completion of the council (Dec. 8, 1965), Paul VI was confronted with the formidable task of implementing its decisions, which affected practically every facet of church life. He approached this task with a sense of the difficulty involved in making changes in centuries-old structures and practices—changes rendered necessary by many rapid transformations in the social, psychological, and political milieu of the 20th century. His approach was consistently one of careful assessment of each concrete situation, with a sharp awareness of the many varied complications that he believed could not be ignored and most famous for reaffirming the Catholic church's ban on artificial contraception.
Church 'splits'
A wide swath of Catholics, especially in the U.S. and Europe, were furious over Paul's decision. They were convinced that the ban would be lifted and that Paul was shutting down the reforms that had begun a few years earlier with momentous changes adopted by the Second Vatican Council. Many conservatives, on the other hand, hailed "Humanae Vitae" for reasserting traditional doctrine. This division foreshadowed the deep splits that have lasted over later decades.
Paul VI, the Reformer
Chief among his achievments was his call for a more missionary church that would be open to the world and one that would dialogue with other Christians and other believers, and with nonbelievers, too. "For us, Paul VI was the great light," Pope Francis recently said of Paul VI referring to his years as a young priest. He was also a vocal champion of the church's social justice teachings, and he sought to embed those concepts as foundation stones of Catholic doctrine. He also implemented a system of regular meetings of bishops, called synods, to promote a more collaborative, horizontal church.
Paul VI, an 'Evangelical' Pope.
Pope Francis also said that the key to Paul's pontificate was his 1975 exhortation on evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi ("On Proclaiming the Gospel"), which Francis has called "the greatest pastoral document written to date." In that landmark document -- largely overshadowed by the contraception encyclical, Paul VI said that the church itself "has a constant need of being evangelized," and he wrote that people today listen "more willingly to witnesses than to teachers," so Catholic leaders above all must practice what they preach. "The world calls for, and expects from us,*simplicity of life, *the spirit of prayer, *charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, *obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice. *Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man, it risks being vain and sterile,"
Paul wrote in words that could have come from the pen of Pope Francis. In fact, in November 2013, Francis sent a personal representative to a meeting of the U.S. bishops and had him read those passages to the hierarchy, followed by clear instructions that Francis, like Paul before him, "wants 'pastoral' bishops, not bishops who profess or follow a particular ideology."
Paul discarded the 'papal triple tiara' and other trappings of the monarchical papacy, sending a message
"that the pope was not a king, but a bishop, a pastor, and a servant,"
as the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put it in one of its tributes.
Paul VI, a 'Pilgrim' pope
Elected in 1963 on the death of St. John XXIII, amid intense debates among bishops at the Second Vatican Council, the former Cardinal Giovanni Montini inherited the difficult task of seeing the council through to its conclusion in 1965. In the following years, he pushed through the council's changes, including updating the liturgy from Latin to the vernacular and completing a major reorganization of the Roman Curia. Paul was the original "pilgrim pope," the first pontiff to travel outside Italy in the modern era.
On his first trip, Paul met the Eastern Orthodox patriarch in Jerusalem in 1964, and during Paul's eight other foreign journeys he visited Asia (-where a knife-wielding artist in the Philippines tried to stab him) - Africa and Latin America. In 1965, Paul became the first pope to visit the U.S., and delivered a ringing denunciation of war to the United Nations General Assembly. Paul's motto: "No one defeated; everyone convinced."
Pope Paul was never destined to become a star the way some other popes were. "Critiqued by the left over birth control and by the right for reforms to the liturgy, Paul in his last years was depicted as a Hamlet-like figure of equivocation.
A 'sad 'pope
His end did seem tragic, as he aged rapidly under the burdens of the office, governing the church at a time of massive social upheavals abroad and close to home. (In the spring of 1978, a long time friend of Paul's and a prominent Italian political leader, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped and executed by left-wing terrorists in Italy despite an impassioned appeal by the anguished pope. )Pope Paul died of a heart attack three months later, "one of the holiest and most loving of Popes" but also "one of the saddest," commented the editors of the Catholic magazine Commonweal at the time.
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Memorable Sayings for Today
In youth, the days are short and the years are long.
In old age, the years are short and the days are long.
also
Whatever you want to do, do it now! We have only so many tomorrows.
~ St Pope Paul VI ~
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Liturgical Readings for: Friday, 29th May, 2026
CÉAD LÉACHT Sliocht as an céad Litir Naomh Peadar 4:7-13
Bainigí feidhm as ar mhaithe lena chéile mar a dhéanfadh maoir fhónta ar ilghrásta Dé.
A clann ionúin, tá deireadh gach ní ar láimh. Bígí ciallmhar dá bhrí sin agus bíodh smacht agaibh oraibh féin mar mhaithe le bhur n-urnaithe. Thar aon ní eile bíodh grá buan agaibh dá chéile óir clúdaíonn grá a lán peacaí.
Cuirigí fáilte gan doicheall roimh a chéile. Gach duine agaibh, de réir mar a fuair sé tíolacadh ó Dhia, bainigí feidhm as ar mhaithe lena chéile mar a dhéanfadh maoir fhónta ar ilghrásta Dé. Má labhraíonn duine, déanadh sé amhlaidh amhail is gur oracail ó Dhia a bhíonn á dtabhairt aige; má dhéanann duine friotháil, déanadh amhail is gur tríd an neart a bhronnann Dia é, ionas go dtabharfaí glóir do Dhia i ngach ní trí Íosa Críost dar dual glóir agus réimeas le saol na saol. Amen.
A chairde cléibh, ná bíodh iontas oraibh nuair a chuirtear triail thine oraibh, le sibh a thástáil, amhail is go raibh rud éigin aisteach ag tarlú daoibh. Ach bíodh áthas oraibh sa mhéid go bhfuil sibh páirteach i bpáis Chríost, ionas go mbeadh áthas agus lúcháir oraibh freisin nuair a fhoilseofar a ghlóir.
Briathar Dé. Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 95: 10-13. R/v 10
Freagra Tá an Tiarna ag teacht a rialú na cruinne.
1. Fógraígí do na ciníocha: “Tá an Tiarna ina Rí.”
shocraigh sé an domhan go daingean dochorraithe;
tabharfaidh sé breith chóir chothrom ar na náisiúin. Freagra
2. Bíodh áthas ar neamh agus ar talamh; tugadh an mhuir agus a bhfuil inti a nglór.
Bíodh lúcháir ar an machaire agus a bhfuil ann; tógadh crainn uile na coille gártha áthais
i bhfianaise an Tiarna atá ag teacht. Freagra
3. Tá sé ag teacht a rialú na cruinne. Rialóidh sé an domhan go cothrom,
agus tabharfaidh sé fíorbhreith ar na daoine. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Marcas 11:11-26 Glóir duit a Thiarna.
Glaofar ar mo theachsa teach urnaithe do na ciníocha go léir. Bíodh creideamh agaibh i nDia.
San am sin chuaigh Íosa isteach in Iarúsailéim, agus isteach sa Teampall. Bhreathnaigh sé ar gach ní ina thimpeall, ach ó bhí an déanaí ann cheana féin, chuaigh sé amach go Béatáine leis an dáréag. Agus iad ag fágáil Béatáine lá arna mhárach, bhí ocras air. Nuair a chonaic sé i bhfad uaidh crann fígí agus duilliúr air, chuaigh sé féachaint an bhfaigheadh sé aon toradh air. Agus nuair a tháinig sé chuige ní bhfuair sé aon ní ach duilliúr mar níorbh é aimsir na bhfígí é. Labhair sé leis an gcrann fígí:
“As seo amach go brách nár ithe aon duine toradh uaitse,” ar sé. Agus chuala a dheisceabail é.
Tháinig siad ansin go Iarúsailéim. Ar dhul isteach sa Teampall dó, thosaigh sé ar an muintir a bhí ag díol agus ag ceannach sa Teampall a thiomáint amach; leag sé ar lár na cláir ar lucht airgead a mhalartú agus na suíocháin ar lucht colmáin a dhíol; ná ní cheadódh sé d’aon duine árthach a bhreith leis tríd an Teampall. Agus bhí sé á dteagasc agus dúirt sé leo: “Nach bhfuil sé scríofa: ‘Glaofar ar mo theachsa teach urnaithe do na ciníocha go léir’? Ach rinne sibh uaimh robálaithe de.”Chuala uachtaráin na sagart agus na scríobhaithe ina thaobh seo agus bhí siad ag lorg slí chun é a mharú; óir bhí eagla orthu roimhe mar bhí an slua go léir ag déanamh an-iontas dá theagasc. Agus nuair a tháinig an tráthnóna d’imigh siad amach as an gcathair.
Ag gabháil thar bráid dóibh lá arna mhárach, chonaic siad an crann fígí seargtha óna fhréamhacha. Chuimhnigh Peadar agus dúirt leis: “A Mháistir, an crann fígí ar ar chuir tú do mhallacht, féach! tá sé seargtha.”
Dúirt Íosa leo ag freagairt: “Bíodh creideamh agaibh i nDia. Deirim libh go fírinneach, má deir aon duine leis an sliabh seo: ‘Éirigh suas agus déan tú féin a chaitheamh san fharraige’ agus gan aon amhras ina chroí, ach é a chreidiúint go mbeidh mar a deir sé, déanfar sin dó. Deirim libh dá bhrí sin, an uile ní a bheidh á impí agus á iarraidh agaibh, creidigí go bhfuil sé faighte agaibh, agus gheobhaidh sibh é.
Agus nuair a bheidh sibh in bhur seasamh ag urnaí, má bhíonn aon ní agaibh i gcoinne aon duine, maithigí dó é, i dtreo go maithfeadh bhur nAthair sna flaithis bhur gcionta daoibhse chomh maith. ( Ach mura maitheann sibhse ní mó a mhaithfidh bhur nAthair sna flaithis bhur gcionta daoibhse.)”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 31st May, 2026
The Most Holy Trinity
‘In the Church one God is preached, who is “above all things and through all things and in all things”. Yes, certainly, “above all things” as the Father, the first principle and origin; and truly “through all things”, that is through the Word, and finally “in all things” in the Holy Spirit' (St Athanasius )
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Exodus 34:4-6. 8-9
Our Lord is a God of tenderness and compassion.
With the two tablets of stone in his hands, he went up the mountain of Sinai in the early morning as the Lord had commanded him. And the Lord descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with him there.He called on the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped.
'If I have indeed won your favour, Lord,' he said 'let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage.'
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Dan 3:52-56
Response To you glory and praise for evermore.
1. You are blest, Lord God of our fathers. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
Blest your glorious holy name. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
2. You are blest in the temple of your glory. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest on the throne of your kingdom. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
3. You are blest who gaze into the depths. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the firmament of heaven. Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.
SECOND READING
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 13:11-13
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Brothers, we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect; help one another.
Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with the holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Gospel Acclamation Apoc 1:8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
the God who is, who was, and who is to come
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to John 3:16-18Glory to you, O Lord
For God sent his Son into the world so that through him the world might be saved.
Jesus said to Nicodemus,
'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already because he has refused to believe in the name of God's only Son.'
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 31st May, 2026
CÉAD LÉACHT Sliocht as an Leabhar Exodus 34:4-6. 8-9
A Thiarna, a Thiarna, Dia na cineáltachta agus na trócaire.
Ghearr Maois dhá leac chloiche dá bhrí sin ar aon dul leis na chéad chinn, agus go luath ar maidin ghabh sé faoi Shliabh Shíonái suas leis an dá leac chloiche ina lámha faoi mar a d’ordaigh an Tiarna dó. Tháinig an Tiarna anuas i bhfoirm néil, agus sheas Maois ansiúd in éineacht leis.Glaoigh sé ar ainm an Tiarna. Ghabh an Tiarna thar bráid os a chomhair agus d’fhógair sé:
“A Thiarna, a Thiarna, Dia na cineáltachta agus na trócaire, is mall é chun feirge, is lán é de bhuanghrá agus de dhílseacht; Shléacht Maois go talamh gan mhoill ag adhradh agus dúirt: “Má fuair mé fabhar i do láthair, a Thiarna, tagadh mo Thiarna in éineacht linn, achainím ort, fág gur ceanndána an pobal iad; ach maith dúinn ár gcionta agus ár bpeacaí, agus glac linn mar oidhreacht agat.”
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm Le Freagra. Dan 3
Freagra Le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
1. Is beannaithe thú, a Thiarna, Dia ár n-aithreacha, Freagra : le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
Is beannaithe é do naomhainm uasal, Freagra: le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
2. Is beannaithe thú i dteampall do naomhghlóire, Freagra : le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
Is beannaithe thú i gcathaoir ríoga do fhlaithis, Freagra : le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
3. Is beannaithe thú ag iniúchadh na ndubhaigéan, Freagra : le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
4. Is beannaithe thú i bhfirmimint neimhe Freagra : le moladh agus le glóiriú de shíor.
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as dara litir Naomh Pól chuig na gCoirintigh 13:11-13
Grásta ár dTiarna Íosa Críost agus grá Dé agus cumann an Spioraid Naoimh libh go léir.
A bhráithre, fágaim slán agaibh. Déanaigí bhur mbeatha a leasú.
Tugaigí spreagadh dá chéile. Bígí socair síochánta le chéile agus beidh Dia an ghrá agus na síochána faraibh.
Beannaígí dá chéile leis an bpóg naofa. Cuireann na naoimh go léir a mbeannacht chugaibh.
Grásta ár dTiarna Íosa Críost agus grá Dé agus cumann an Spioraid Naoimh libh go léir.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Eoin 3:16-18 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Chuir Dia a Mhac uaidh ar an saol chun go slánófaí an saol tríd.
San am sin dúirt Íosa lena dheisceabail:
Óir ghráigh Dia an domhan chomh mór sin gur thug sé a Aonghin Mic uaidh i dtreo, gach duine a chreideann ann, nach gcaillfí é ach go mbeadh an bheatha shioraí aige.
Óir ní chun daorbhreith a thabhairt ar an saol a chuir Dia a Mhac uaidh ar an saol ach chun go slánófaí an saol tríd.
An té a chreideann ann ní thabharfar daorbhreith air, ach an té nach gcreideann ann, tá daorbhreith tugtha air cheana féin, mar nár chreid sé in ainm Mhac Dé, a Aonghin.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
