Paul VI “was called the doubtful Pope, but that’s not true. As he himself explained: “They say that I seem doubtful, undecided: no, I have to look at it from all angles to say a definitive word””. Father Antonio Marrazzo, postulator of the cause for canonization of Paul VI, who, on the sidelines of the presentation on Giovanni Battista Montini at the Vatican Film Library, in view of the canonization presided over by Pope Francis on 14 October next, points this out while answering the questions of a group of journalists. During the presentation, he spoke about the future saint’s life, of when he kissed the envoy of Patriarch Athenagoras’ feet warning his secretaries (”I’ll make a gesture, don’t stop me”), of when he studied at night the theological questions debated at Vatican Council II, as well as the miracle that will bring him to the honors of the altars. As for his relationship with his friend Aldo Moro, kidnapped by the Br (terrorist group), he was “willing to become a martyr, to replace Moro in order to save him, something that the politicians of the time didn’t know how to do”.
“In my opinion, the human dimension of Montini needs to be cleared a little, which is instead fundamental, because he is being canonized as Giovanni Battista Montini, not as Paul VI, not the role, be the man, who was a priest and then lived the priesthood in the various following roles he had”, the Redemptorist priest said. “It is important then to see how this man progressively evolved, to what extent he opened himself up to certain stands. He was the son of a journalist and politician, but also of a woman who kept the door open to everyone at Concesio, anyone with problems, and not only economic ones, went to her. She instilled certain realities of faith in him, which led him to pray to Our Lady. We could say that the father, on the one hand, showed him the faith from the point of view of thought, study and research, while from the mystical point of view on the relationship with God it was the mother who directed him. Montini is perceived as the Pope of modernity, or rather of contemporaneity, but for me perhaps we could define him as the last Renaissance Pope, for the way he looked at the different aspects of things, for the way he made things, for his relations, political and ecclesial, with the great men of his time, for the way he made sure that the Church became the seed of human possibilities and salvation”.
What can you tell us about Paul VI’s relationship with politics, the Red Brigades, Aldo Moro?
“Also in this case it is opportune to highlight the human dimension of Montini, the priestly discourse, expression of a certain holiness: in that situation, he was willing to become a martyr, to replace Moro in order to save him, something that the politicians of the time did not know how to do. I want to mention another episode, the meeting in the Sistine Chapel with Metropolitan Melitone (delegate of Patriarch Athenagoras, ed): before entering he told his two secretaries: “I’ll make a gesture, don’t stop me”. He arrives in front of Melitone, who opens his arms to greet him, and he kneels to kiss his feet, with a gesture seen by some almost as heretic. Montini was this man, his point of reference was Christ. What characterizes Montini is the Council: if we don’t start from there, we risk not understanding other things. In the Council, the Church experienced a turning point, which then affected the whole of society.
Today we speak of peace, of human rights, of the value of the person: they are acquired realities, but where and when were they born in contemporary reality? They were born there. We are talking about the Gospel, about Christ the person who is the fulcrum and reference. Montini moved in that direction. Immediately after the Council we find in his writings: “Perhaps it’s time to resign, I have fulfilled my task”, however, it has been asked, “but who will do all this?” Thus, he continued. That was Montini. He was a man who made bold choices for the time, he was not afraid: it took time, it’s true, the Pope of doubt was called, but as he himself explained: “They say that I seem doubtful, indecisive: no, I must look at things from all angles before giving my definitive word””.
Has Pope Paul VI been overshadowed by the other 20th-century Popes?
“I think that Montini was not qualifiable. He can’t be placed. Today it would be called multitasking: he was an incredibly versatile figure, he goes from art to poetry to literature, to theater to theology to liturgy. He dealt with each and every topic. And he studied. During the Council, at night he studied the theological subjects that were discussed. He was a mindful man, extremely responsible, had a sense of role, an apostolic role, not a political one”.
What would Montini, the Pope’s great speech on contraception, say at the Synod on youth that opens in the Vatican?
“At the end of his speech on contraception, he recommends young people to be attentive. He defends human life from the beginning, the person it will be, the human person who will become, is not only the beginning of life, it is the whole person. And in this he identifies a response to young people, who live with impetus and imagination, who feel the need for novelty and self-realization. The question is: how can we adults help them, how do we accompany them, how do we give them the keys to understanding how to live this enthusiasm, this joy of living, this desire to change the world in the most correct and human way? I believe that Montini would tell us this today and I believe that here we find the meaning of the Gospel, the incarnation of God that accompanies men and women in their humanization, in becoming His image. Montini urges us to do this”.
Can you tell us about the miracle that led to the canonization of Paul VI?
“The miracle was simple and complex at the same time. Strange for how it began, because these people didn’t know who Paul VI was. The woman undergoes an amniocentesis and after a week she loses amniotic fluid, which meant miscarriage, it meant that the fetus could not continue. She spoke about it with a nurse friend, with a gynecologist friend, who told her: “Look, in these very days they are beatifying Paul VI, for a miracle like this, pray to him”. It is the beginning of October 2014, Montini was beatified on 20 October. They go to Brescia, they don’t say anything to anyone, they find a picture of Montini at the Shrine of Graces, they take it home and they pray for three months. The pregnancy is at the beginning of the thirteenth week. Without amniotic fluid the fetus goes on, the mother undergoes five hospitalizations to try to regain it but continues to expel it. At the end, at the twenty-sixth week, the doctors found something unlikely, the baby was born, on Christmas day, she was healthy. I joke that Paul VI should pay for board and lodging for this family because he was there for three months! For me Giovanni Battista Montini would be to invoke for the nascent life”.
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