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| PAUL
VI The First Modern Pope By Peter Hebblethwaite Harper Collins, 750pp Brilliantly written and thoroughly researched for eight years, this enthralling study of Pope Paul VI and of the Catholic Church in the 20th century merits the highest praise for its objectivity and compassionate understanding. In 1984, Hebblethwaite?s life of John XXIII won universal acclaim for its scholarship and readability. This new biography is even more compelling. Giovanni Battista Montini was Pope from 1963-1978. The world remembers him as the Pope of the Second Vatican Council and especially for the dissension and conflicts caused by his encyclical Humanae Vitae, condemning birth control. Hebblethwaite argues that the world has been unjust to the memory of Paul VI. Far from being a timidly conservative, indecisive man, recoiling in horror from the modern world, he tried to shift the church – in spite of tremendous and sometimes vicious opposition from the Vatican Curia – to meet the legitimate demands of our times. With boundless patience and diplomatic skill, he reformed and modernised the Curia, the church?s bureaucracy in Rome, internationalising it, making it more receptive to modern conditions, a task which Chicago psychologist Gene Kennedy wittily described as ?giving a hair cut to a drowsy lion?. Hebblethwaite searchingly explores his subject?s background and adolesence. Highly intelligent but very delicate in health, he was rejected for army service in World War I. He began his priestly training at 16, staying at home rather than living in a seminary, and was ordained at a youthful 22. After a very successful stint as a chaplain to university students in Rome, he was placed, against his wishes, in the papal diplomatic service, the Secretariate of State. Pope Pius XII was quick to realise his potential, and made Montini assistant secretary of State, plunging him into the complex world of international Vatican diplomacy. I shall highlight just one controversial issue of this time, the claim that Pius XII was indifferent to the brutal Nazi treatment of the Jews, popularised in recent years by Hochhuth?s play The Representative. Montini demolished Hochhuth?s vicious and unfounded views in a series of articles, reminding the world that many bishops in Nazi-occupied territories begged Pius XII to be silent because the more he condemned the German atrocities, the more they intensified their cruelty. After 29 years in the Vatican bureaucracy, Montini was made archbishop of Milan, a city with 4 million Catholics, 1000 churches and 2500 priests. This vast pastoral challenge was to prove an invaluable preparation for the boundless complexities of the papacy. In Milan, Montini summed up his marathon task thus: ?The secret of the apostolate is to know how to love? – and he stressed that he loved communists, atheists, critics, enemies – everyone. There you have the essence of the man. The universally loved Pope John XXIII had been a close friend of Montini for 25 years, trusted him totally and prayed he would suceed him as Pope. When Pope John died, Montini had many enemies within the Vatican bureaucracy who regarded him as too liberal and progressive. In the papal conclave to elect a new Pope, after about six ballots (with much help from Cardinal Suenens of Belgium), Montini was elected. He said later he felt dizzy at the immensity of the task and muttered: ?Here I am, crucified with Christ.? As Pope he chose the name Paul, to be another apostle to the gentiles. ?Paul VI was never so popular as in the first nine months of 1964,? writes Hebblethwaite. ?The idea of making his first journey outside Italy a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was the best-kept secret in a city that is as leaky as a Gruyere cheese.? It was a master stroke which dramatised the goals of the Vatican Council. This return to the sources of Christianity caught the imagination of the world. Many tough decisions, however, lay ahead and Hebblethwaite has researched these issues at great depth. I shall discuss three – the reform of the Curia, contraception and ecumenism. He certainly shook the Curia to its foundations by limiting tenure of office to five years with possible revision for another five years only; with the death of a Pope it would lapse altogether, and all curialists would tender their resignation at 75. Long overdue. The Pill issue was certainly the most controversial of Paul?s pontificate. Suenens urged Paul not to act alone but in conjunction with episcopal conferences. If not, he said, there would not just be a ?credibility gap but a credibility chasm?. Ultimately Paul acted contrary to the advice of his special commission on birth control – two-thirds wanted a change – and reverted to traditional teaching. Hebblethwaite remarks, however: ?Paul himself had modified the final text? he cut out any reference to ?mortal sin? and he always refused to qualify the encyclical as ?infallible??. Paul also added a quite astonishing sentence: ?The Holy Spirit illumines from within the hearts of the faithful and invites their assent.? Hebblethwaite comments: ?This is not the tone of an insensitive, authoritarian bully.? No Pope ever worked so constantly for ecumenism and the unity of the various Christian churches. The Anglican historian Owen Chadwick described Paul as the first and indeed the only Pope who understood the Church of England. ?Convergence towards Christ? was one of Paul?s key phrases. Using many unpublished and hitherto unknown materials, Hebblethwaite takes the reader into the mind and heart of Paul VI, a most sensitive and loving man, explaining cogently why he took so many difficult decisions throughout his turbulent 15-year pontificate. Among the unlikely witnesses is one of the founders of feminism, Betty Friedan, who said of Paul: ?He took my hand in both of his, as if he really meant his concern for women. He seemed much more human than I had expected, with a warm and caring expression? and he blessed me.? I was also granted an audience in 1970, a spiritual experience I shall never forget. If ever I experienced the love and warmth of Christ in another person, it was Paul VI. He clasped me warmly, welcomed me as a son and said: ?Always trust in Christ. Put no limits to his love and power – in everything and at all times.? Words engraved in my mind and heart forever. True to form, Hebblethwaite spares us any pious accretions and gives us an objective picture of this highly intelligent and sensitive man – sometimes, alas, the Hamlet of indecision, for fear of hurting people, but always the apostle of love. |