Pope Paul VI was beatified in St. Peter's Square by Pope Francis during the closing Mass for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family. Below are a few words from the Pope's homily.
On this day of the Beatification of Pope Paul VI, I think of the
words with which he established the Synod of Bishops: “by carefully surveying
the signs of the times, we are making every effort to adapt ways and methods… to
the growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society” (Apostolic
Letter Motu Proprio Apostolica Sollicitudo).
words with which he established the Synod of Bishops: “by carefully surveying
the signs of the times, we are making every effort to adapt ways and methods… to
the growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society” (Apostolic
Letter Motu Proprio Apostolica Sollicitudo).
When we look to this great Pope, this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle, we cannot but say in the sight of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and important: thanks! Thank you, our dear and beloved Pope Paul VI! Thank you for your humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his Church!
In his personal journal, the great helmsman of the Council wrote, at the conclusion of its final session: “Perhaps the Lord has called me and preserved me for this service not because I am particularly fit for it, or so that I can govern and rescue the Church from her present difficulties, but so that I can suffer something for the Church, and in that way it will be clear that he, and no other, is her guide and saviour” (P. Macchi, Paolo VI nella sua parola, Brescia, 2001, pp. 120-121). In this humility the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the advent of a secularized and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom – and at times alone – to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord.
Paul VI truly “rendered to God what is God’s” by devoting his whole life to the “sacred, solemn and grave task of continuing in history and extending on earth the mission of Christ” (Homily for the Rite of Coronation: Insegnamenti I, (1963), 26), loving the Church and leading her so that she might be “a loving mother of the whole human family and at the same time the minister of its salvation” (Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam, Prologue).