His priesthood was spent almost entirely in the diplomatic corps of the Vatican. He was a close aid to Pope Pius XII, yet he was pushed out of the curia in the last 1950s and denied being named a cardinal while named archbishop of Milan. Therefore, he was not a candidate for the papacy in the conclave of 1958 upon the death of Pope Pius XII. Pope John XXIII knew his value and his talents, and named him a cardinal within three months of being elected Bishop of Rome.
Montini had nothing to do with the calling forth of the Second Vatican Council -- that was the work of the Holy Spirit through Pope John XXIII -- but immediately became one of the pope's biggest supporters and key advisers. When good and jolly Pope John died of cancer on June 3, 1963, after the first session of the Council, the cardinals wasted no time electing Montini as Bishop of Rome. Like John, he took an apostolic name, and one not used for centuries, to signal his desire to promote evangelization. His election sent the signal the cardinals wanted: complete the work of the Council, begun by your predecessor. (There was nothing automatic that the Council should continue. That was purely a decision of the Holy Father.)
And complete it he did. In this era of embarrassing political gridlock in Washington, it is nothing short of astonishing that Pope Paul VI guided the Council to completion in only three sessions. When it concluded on December 7, 1965, the Council Fathers wrote 16 documents which would shake the Catholic Church (in a good sense) to this day and provide the practical roadways of aggiornamento (literally, "bringing up to date," the opening of the windows of the church to the modern world) desired by Pope John XXIII.
We take for granted the historical fact that the Second Vatican Council was completed in four years, with the death of one pope and election of his successor in between. But this was not automatic. The forces of conserving the past traditions (liturgical, catechetical, ceremonial) were in a minority, but by no means without power. Paul VI kept both sides, the progressive and the conservative, in check and in tension, and allowed the Spirit to work through the stilted debates in St. Peter's Basilica, the committees, the multitude of document revisions, to bring about what has been called the most important spiritual event of the 20th century.
If it wasn't enough to bring the Council to completion, Paul then made several groundbreaking trips: to the Holy Land; Bombay, India; Bogota Columbia; Fatima, Portugal; Africa; Manilla,
Philippines; and New York and the United Nations. It was from the world's podium at the United Nations that he gave his cry, "No more war! War never again!" He was the first pope to travel to six continents.
His encyclical letter "Ecclesiam Suam" on the need for dialogue and his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Nunciandi" on evangelization only grow in importance and speak to our very divided church and world. His encyclical "Populorum Progressio" is critical to the 20th century social justice magisterium, such that both John Paul II and Benedict XVI wrote encyclicals on its 20th and 40th anniversaries.
But of course it was the encyclical letter "Humanae Vitae" ("On the Regulation of Birth") that seared Pope Paul VI into the history books and into the lives of Catholics everywhere. It was Pope Paul's decision that two issues would not be debated or discussed by the Council Fathers: birth control and celibacy for Latin Church priests. Both issues he addressed several years after the close of the Council. And in both issues he landed on the side of continuity, not change, disappointing many, many progressives in the church.
From my knowledge of family systems theory, issues not talked about, topics avoided, become topics which bring great anxiety to the system. However would have been the decisions (and I guess that the same conclusions--namely, continuity with the teachings on both--would have been issued by the Council Fathers) it's my humble judgment that it would have been better for the Church to have had public debate, rather than executive decision, decide these.
Nevertheless, I believe that, looking at the totality of his pontificate, like his predecessor John XXIII and his (second) successor John Paul II, Paul VI was saintly in his personal life and great in his leadership of the church.
On August 6, then, we the church celebrate the mystery and feast of the Transfiguration, with the light of the mushroom clouds over two cities in Japan still in our rearview mirrors, and with the holy memory of a peaceful apostle, whose memory we venerate on his death anniversary, shining from the blessed light of paradise.
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