An unprecedented manuscript note of San Pablo VI – Galvanni Battista Montini, who was proclaimed Holy by Pope Francis on October 14, 2018, during the Synod of Bishops on young people – reveals the deep reflections of the Italian Pontiff by deciding to convene the jubilee of 1975.
The document, recently published in the Newsletter of the Paul VI institute, A periodic publication edited by the Paolo VI isituto, based in Brescia (Italy), dedicated to the study, dissemination and promotion of Pope Montini’s thinking, lists the three major axes that, in their opinion, had to mark that celebration: awakening, confrontation and reform.
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The manuscript – which has been revealed by the diary of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) Happen– It also includes a comment from the current bishop of Mantova, Mons. Marco Search, who explains that these three concepts formed the spiritual and pastoral program with which St. Paul VI intended, ten years after the closing of the Second Vatican Council, open for the Catholic Church to a time of restart, renewal and reconciliation.
Thus, Mons. Search offers a deep reading key. The term renewal –Revation, “alludes to a transformation of the inner consciousness of the Christian, especially in his relationship with the modern world, which constantly reconfigures ethical, cultural and social references.
The word gunshot —Reconciliation, “on the other hand, it appears interpreted in its sacramental dimension. “It is the experience,” said Saint Paul VI – to return to grace, through conversion, penance and forgiveness, “to which the Pope associated a community responsibility: reconciliation with God should have visible consequences in society and in human relations.
This approach is in line with many of its catechesis and general audiences, where Pope Montini underlined the need for a pastoral method of confrontation between faith and world.
A demanding, but inevitable path, in an era marked by secularism, individualism and relativism. Where the Christian experiences the tension between the Gospel and contemporary culture, Paul VI proposed firmness in faith and dialogue without fear.
The manuscript – until now unknown – thus empowers the points that develop this vision. The first is based on the awakening of inner consciousness, which the Italian Pope linked to the meaning of life. Next, the external awakening is given; That is, the meaning of things, of history, the spiritual connection with the Church. Third, the Pontiff spoke of the confrontation between faith and world; that is, the role of religion against a world that tends to absorb and relativizes. The fourth point is the renewal in adherence to fertile principles, that is, the kingdom of God as energy and hope. The fifth, to return to grace, understood as conversion, penance and sacrament of forgiveness. The last is the vocation and social and community responsibility, which Pope Montini understood as the discovery of the brothers.
These elements, summarized in the three concepts restart, renewal and reconciliation, shaped the Holy Year of 1975, which was the first transmitted in a simultaneous international television broadcast and that attracted more than nine million pilgrims to Rome.
The reflections and doubts of the Italian Pontiff – which concluded the Second Vatican Council, initiated by San Juan XXIII, and led to the Catholic Church for the difficult path of modernity – are also present in another intimate text that collects the book The Holy Year with Paul VI (The Holy Year with Paul VI), Posted in March for the Vatican Editorial Library.
“Why will a new jubilee? Will men understand? Isn’t a disuse practice, which no longer responds to the spirit of our times?” Saint Paul VI was wondering. This is remembered by Mons. Leonardo Sapienza, regent of the Prefecture of the Pontifical House, in this book.
The volume, which is only published in Italian, also includes an anthology of speeches, homilies, letters and audiences that San Pablo VI pronounced during that holy year that, despite the initial fears, it was celebrated with great participation under the slogan “Renewal and reconciliation.”
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.