Paul VI: The First Modern Pope - Softcover

Hebblethwaite, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809153874 ISBN 13: 9780809153879

Publisher: Paulist Press, 2018

Synopsis

A thoughtful, highly acclaimed biography of Giovanni Battista Montini, Paul VI, which sheds light on and powerfully underscores the personal and ecclesial sides of a man who brought modernity to the church.

About this title

About the Author:

The late Peter Hebblethwaite was a journalist and author from the UK.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A well-researched, sympathetic biography of the self-effacing pontiff who steered the Roman Catholic Church through the tumult of Vatican II. Legend has it that, as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, Paul VI (1897-1978) was upbraided by Pope John XXIII for his ``Hamlet'' tendencies, and, indeed, during his own 15-year pontificate, Paul often suffered by comparison with his ebullient predecessor. But Hebblethwaite (In the Vatican, 1986, etc.), an ex- Jesuit and Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, persuasively argues that Paul was ``the most naturally talented man to become pope in this century.'' Intellectual (the son of a liberal Italian journalist), friendly in one-to-one encounters, and unusually knowledgeable about the non-Catholic world, the young Montini became a valued aide of Pius XII in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, where he witnessed firsthand the Church's battles against Fascism and Communism. But after 18 years of selfless service, he unaccountably fell from favor and was kicked upstairs with an appointment as Archbishop of Milan. It was under John XXIII that Paul finally became a cardinal and, Hebblethwaite shows, the architect of the agenda that kept the Second Vatican Council from spiralling out of control. Paul's achievements as pontiff (ecumenical outreach to alienated churches; reform of the conservative Curia; greater expansion of the role of women in the Church; the balancing of collegial discussion with papal authority) are weighed against what the author sees as his mistakes (the bans on birth control and clerical matrimony; inability to disentangle messy Vatican finances, resulting posthumously in the Sindona banking scandal). Using interviews and a wealth of unpublished material, Hebblethwaite depicts Paul as a ``good and holy man,'' tireless missionary, eloquent advocate for the poor, and--despite the carping of later critics (and unlike Pope John Paul II)--a comparative font of tolerance toward dissenting theologians. An insightful account of a pope who rose above his deep self- doubts to become a pivotal figure in religious--and contemporary- -history. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Paulist Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0809153874
• ISBN 13: 9780809153879
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 800