Pope Paul VI
Ordination history of Pope Paul VI Priestly ordination Ordained by Giacinto Gaggia (Brescia) Date of ordination 29 May 1920 Place of ordination Concesio, Brescia Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Eugène Card. Tisserant (Dec. Sac. Coll.) Co-consecrators Giacinto Tredici (Brescia) Domenico Bernareggi (Milan aux.) Date of consecration 12 December 1954 Place of consecration Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City Cardinalate Elevated by Pope John XXIII Date of elevation 15 December 1958 Bishops consecrated by Pope Paul VI as principal consecrator Giuseppe Schiavini 22 May 1955 Cesário Alexandre Minali 5 June 1955 Ubaldo Teofano Stella 3 October 1955 Domenico Enrici 1 November 1955 Aristide Pirovano 13 November 1955 Adolfo Luís Bossi 14 September 1958 Giovanni Umberto Colombo 7 December 1960 Luigi Oldani 7 December 1961 Francesco Rossi 26 May 1963 Igino Eugenio Cardinale 20 October 1963 Albert Reuben Edward Thomas 20 October 1963 Giovanni Fallani 28 June 1964 Leobard D'Souza 3 December 1964 Ferdinando Giuseppe Antonelli 19 March 1966 Loris Francesco Capovilla 16 July 1967 Agostino Casaroli 16 July 1967 Paul Casimir Marcinkus 6 January 1969 Louis Vangeke 3 December 1970 Annibale Bugnini 13 February 1972 Enrico Bartolucci Panaroni 29 June 1973 Andrzej Maria Deskur 30 June 1974 Nicola Rotunno 30 June 1974 Pope Paul VI (Latin: Paulus VI), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (Italian pronunciation: [dʒioˈvani baˈtista enˈriko antoˈnjo maˈrja monˈtini]; 26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978), reigned from 21 June 1963 to his death in 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms, and fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestants, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. Montini served in the Vatican's Secretariat of State from 1922 to 1954. While in the Secretariat of State, Montini and Domenico Tardini were considered as the closest and most influential co-workers of Pope Pius XII, who in 1954 named him Archbishop of Milan, the largest Italian diocese. Montini automatically became the Secretary of the Italian Bishops Conference. John XXIII elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 1958, and after the death of John XXIII, Montini was considered one of his most likely successors. Upon his election to the papacy, Montini took the pontifical name Paul VI to indicate a renewed worldwide mission to spread the message of Christ. He re-convoked the Second Vatican Council, which was automatically closed with the death of John XXIII, and gave it priority and direction. After the council had concluded its work, Paul VI took charge of the interpretation and implementation of its mandates, often walking a thin line between the conflicting expectations of various groups within Catholicism. The magnitude and depth of the reforms affecting all fields of Church life during his pontificate exceeded similar reform policies of his predecessors and successors. Paul VI was a Marian devotee, speaking repeatedly to Marian congresses and mariological meetings, visiting Marian shrines and issuing three Marian encyclicals. Following his famous predecessor Saint Ambrose of Milan, he named Mary as the Mother of the Church during the Second Vatican Council. Paul VI sought dialogue with the world, with other Christians, other religions, and atheists, excluding nobody. He saw himself as a humble servant for a suffering humanity and demanded significant changes of the rich in North America and Europe in favour of the poor in the Third World. His positions on birth control (see Humanae vitae) and other issues were often controversial, especially in Western Europe and North America. Paul VI died on 6 August 1978, the Feast of the Transfiguration, in Castel Gandolfo, after a period of ill health. According to his will, he was buried in the grottos of the Vatican not in an ornate tomb, but in a grave in the ground. The diocesan process for the beatification of Paul VI began on 11 May 1993, and he was given the title "Servant of God". The diocesan process concluded its work in 1998. On 20 December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, in an audience with the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, declared that the late pontiff had lived a life of heroic virtue, which means that he can now be called "Venerable". A miracle attributed to the intercession of Paul VI was approved on 9 May 2014 by Pope Francis. The beatification ceremony for Paul VI was held on 19 October 2014, which means that he will be called "Blessed". His liturgical feast day is celebrated on the date of his birth, 26 September, rather than the day of his death.