Pope Francis is to beatify his predecessor Pope Paul VI on October 19, the Vatican has confirmed. The Vatican announced that Francis has approved a decree attributing a miracle to the intercession of the Italian pope, and his beatification will take place at the conclusion of the bishops’ synod on the family. On May 6, Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Pope Paul VI’
Vatican reportedly approves Pope Paul VI miracle
Friday, May 9th, 2014
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints has reportedly approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Paul VI. The miracle was the healing in the United States of an unborn baby from an otherwise incurable illness. Doctors forecast the baby would die in the womb, or be born with severely damaged kidneys. Read more
Humanae Vitae model for Pope’s balance of doctrine and mercy
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
Pope Francis’s praise for Humanae Vitae is key to understanding his dual emphases on clear doctrine and pastoral mercy, a senior Vatican observer says. Writing in L’Espresso, Sandro Magister noted there is growing pressure for a change in Church teaching on Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. “There was similarly massive pressure for change in Read more
Pope Paul VI miracle approved
Friday, February 28th, 2014Theologians have approved a miracle attributed to the intervention of Pope Paul VI. Experts at the Congregation for Saints Causes have recognised the healing of an unborn child through the intercession of the late Roman pontiff. This is another step on the path to possible canonisation as a saint for Paul VI, who was one Read more
Humanae Vitae 45 years on: a personal story
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
For the faithful it (birth control) is a sad and agonizing issue, for there is a cleavage between the official teaching of the Church and the contrary practice in most families. — Former Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church quoted in What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O’Malley. Recalling that Thursday was Read more
Humanae Vitae 45 years on: Paul VI was right
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
While pondering last week’s sapphire anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) and the continuing controversy over the so-called “birth control encyclical” throughout both Church and society, I came across a striking passage in an essay by Polish Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, written shortly before his death in 2004. “Increasingly the institution Read more
Castel Gandolfo’s colourful history
Friday, March 8th, 2013
Pope Benedict has withdrawn to Castel Gandolfo while his successor is chosen. But few know that the papal summer residence of almost 400 years has a curious history, serving as a hideout for Jews, delivery ward and target for paparazzi. In the late evening of Aug. 6, 1978, a heavy iron chain was pulled across Read more
Beatification of Pope Paul VI gets approval
Friday, December 21st, 2012The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved the beatification of Pope Paul VI, the pope who led the Church through most of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar period, and who wrote the encyclical Humanae Vitae. Two steps are necessary before a date for his beatification is announced — a decree from Read more