Benedict XVI Pays Tribute to Paul VI

Benedict XVI Pays Tribute to Paul VI

Says He Was a Prudent Helmsman

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI paid tribute to Pope Paul VI, saying he was a protagonist in a difficult historical period.

The Holy Father said this on Saturday, when receiving members of the Paul VI Institute, a Brescia, Italy-based organization which collects documentation and promotes the thought of Giovanni Battista Montini, who was Bishop of Rome from 1963 to 1978.

Benedict XVI mentioned some personal memories of this Pope, who appointed him archbishop of Munich in March 1977 and elevated him to cardinal three months later.

"He was called by divine providence to pilot Peter's boat during a historical period characterized by many challenges and problems," Benedict XVI said.

Paul VI was the first modern Pope to journey to the Holy Land, on the occasion of the historic meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem in January 1964, nine centuries after the schism between the Churches of the East and West.

That visit "had a clear symbolic meaning" and "indicated to the Church that the path of its mission consists in reiterating the footsteps of Christ," the German Pope said in his tribute.

He added: "The secret of the pastoral action carried out by Paul VI with tireless dedication, adopting on occasions difficult and unpopular decisions," lies in his love of Christ and his total dedication to Jesus, as well as in "a missionary tension nourished by the sincere desire for dialogue with humanity."

In the period after the Second Vatican Council, which Paul VI closed, he "did not let himself be conditioned by misunderstandings and criticisms, though at times he had to endure suffering and violent attacks," Benedict XVI said, "but in all circumstances he was a firm and prudent helmsman of Peter's boat."

The Paul VI Institute arose in 1979. In addition to archives, it has a 30,000-volume library, including 10,000 books from Paul VI's personal library.

I know some who would disagree with the Holy Father's assessment of Paul VI. Not only that, but as Cardinal Ratzinger he had some words about the implementation of liturgical reform and the promulgation of the new missal. Can he really say that the new missal was a prudent act? So, which assessment do we accept? Fortunately the Holy Father is not a postulator of the cause for canonization for Pope Paul VI.

It's unfortunate when the shepherds of the Church must say something other than what they may actually think, in order to be "tactful"--this is a false form of tactfulness and actually is known by another name. The Church needs to stop imitating academia and contemporary politicians; before it was a John Paul II Cultural Center, now it's the Paul VI institute... I don't doubt that Fr. Fessio has something in mind to honor Benedict XVI.