Continued
from previous post –
He
became the first pope to visit all five continents. Paul VI
systematically continued and completed the efforts of his
predecessors, to turn the Euro-centric Church into a Church for the
whole world, by integrating the bishops from all continents in its
government and in the Synods which he convened. His August 6, 1967
Motu Proprio Pro Comperto Sane opened the Roman Curia to the bishops
of the world. Until then, only Cardinals could be leading members of
the Curia.
An
inner joy seems to have been a characteristic of Paul VI. His
confessor, the Jesuit Paolo Dezza arrived at the Vatican every Friday
evening at seven p.m. to hear confession of Paul VI. The only words
he ever spoke about his long service to Paul VI during his
pontificate were, that this pope is a man of great joy.
After the death of Pope Paul VI, Dezza was more outspoken, saying
that
"if
Paul VI was not a saint, when he was elected pope, he became one
during his pontificate. I was able to witness not only with what
energy and dedication he toiled for Christ and the Church but also
and above all, how much he suffered (!) for Christ and the Church. I
always admired not only his deep inner resignation but also his
constant abandonment to divine providence".
It
is this character trait, which led to the opening of the process of
beatification and canonization ((Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
Church) the act of admitting a deceased person into the canon of
saints) for Paul VI.
With
the accession of Pope John Paul II after the mysterious death of Pope
John Paul I (who only survived as pope for 33 days), the church had,
for the first time since Pope Adrian VI in the 16th century, a
non-Italian pope. John Paul II has been credited with helping to
bring down communism in eastern Europe by sparking what amounted to a
peaceful revolution in his Polish homeland. Lech Wałęsa, one of the
several founders of the Solidarity worker movement that ultimately
toppled communism, credited John Paul with giving Poles the courage
to rise up. The last Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged
publicly the role of John Paul II in the fall of Communism. The pope
himself stated after the fall of Communism that "the claim to
build a world without God has been shown to be an illusion"
(Prague, April 21, 1990).
But
this world without God exists in Capitalism too. Therefore, as did
his predecessors, so did John Paul repeatedly, the content of
Christianity (righteousness), its religious and moral messages
(various rituals and other methodologies), its defense of ordinary
human person and warned against the dangers of capitalism. Finally he
suggests that, "Unfortunately, not all that West proposes as a
theoretical vision or as a concrete lifestyle reflects values of
Gospel".
The
long pontificate of John Paul is credited with re-creating a sense of
stability and even identity to the Catholic Church after years of
questioning and searching. His teaching was firm and unwavering on
issues, which seemed to be in doubt under his predecessor including
the ordination of women, liberation theology and priestly celibacy.
He virtually stopped the liberal isolationistic policy of 'problem
priests' policy', of Pope Paul VI, which inadvertently may have
contributed to problems in the USA. His authoritative style was
reminiscent of Pope Pius XII, whose teaching he repeated in his own
words, such as the identity of the Catholic Church with the Body of
Christ and his condemnations of capitalism "viruses":
secularism, attitude of indifference to life, epicurean (enjoying
life) consumerism, practical materialism, and also formal atheism
(believing God, but not exactly Jesus). Pope feared that all these
attitudes may challenge the position of Church within the Christian
society, particularly educated ones from America.
Continues
in next post –
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may contact me on my Email ID given below,
You are invited to
visit my other blogs
Ashok
Kothare, http://ashokkotharesblog.blogspot.com/
for stories
I
reckon,
http://kotharesviews.blogspot.com/
for philosophy
You
may visit blog, Freedom of Expression,
Freedom
of Expression, http://kothare-thinks.blogspot.in/
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blog, http://kothare-marathi.blogspot.in/
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