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SYMBOLIC CHAIN -- Watched by Swiss guards, Vatican
attendants stretch a large black chain across the door of the papal
summer residence at Castelgandolfo, Italy, signifying the death of
Pope Paul VI. The pope died following a heart attack on Sunday,
August 6. (NC Photo)
■IN MEMORIAM
Prisoner Of The Vatican
It was like the return of DiMaggio. It was like the Yankee Clipper was
still on his never to be broken hitting streak. Yankee Stadium was packed,
alive and gathering in frenzy.
But it had nothing to do with the national game of baseball. No stars
were playing center field on that chilly evening in October 1965. Rather it
was the Prisoner of the Vatican, small in stature, dressed in white, stealing
all the bases with the mere flash of his kindly smiling eyes. Paul the Sixth
was out of the Vatican and on parole.
It was the plan of his pontificate. Conservatives smugly staked their
claim to primacy upon his election. Liberals contradicted the claim. Both,
he ignored as unimportant. Firmly he demanded reform, while tenaciously
he nurtured tradition. And his real plan was parole for himself. He took it.
He filled the friendly skies like no other Pope. And friendly faces
faithfully responded. In Jordan, where Catholics are desert dry, he was
deliriously mobbed. The little cautious nation of Israel dropped its barbed
border in wild welcome. Like Jesus, he paddled his feet in the gaping
waters of the Dead Sea. Then on to the pandemonium of the South
Americas. Again the smiling faces - even in the drowning waters of a
poverty he would never forget. India was next and his magic hypnotized
this ancient home of the professional mystic. His title was Pastor and his
parish was the world.
Everywhere his message was unmistakingly precise. On every
continent it was his calling card. Peace - Dignity - Brotherhood. “If
mankind will not destroy war, war will destroy mankind.” Almost fisting
the podium at the UN, he dictated, “No more war. Never again war.
Peace. It is peace which must guide the destinies of peoples.” He never
stopped.
But the race against oncoming death slowed him down. Continental
travel and the crowd crush halted his missionary journeys. Still he
shunned the bars of his Vatican prison. Almost unannounced, his white
robe would appear at fiesta celebrations in the Italian countryside. The
smiling faces were still his mania.
Paul the Sixth died outside his Prison - still on parole. His final foray
forged the den of assassins. The refusal of the Red Brigade to grant
reprieve to Aldo Moro was a deadening disappointment. Paul lit up the
smiles of others; for him there was no such light.
Now he is gone. The Prisoner of the Vatican is no longer on parole.
He has at last received a full and final release. Fr. Noel C. Burtenshaw
Pope Paul VI
1897-1978
Pope Paul Dead At Age 80
CASTELGANDOLFO, Italy (NC) - The “pilgrim
pope” has made his last journey, into the annals of history.
Pope Paul VI, the 261st successor of St. Peter as bishop
of Rome, died at 9:40 p.m. Rome time Sunday, Aug. 6, at
his summer villa at Castelgandolfo. He was 80 years of age.
His death was caused by heart failure complicated by
pulmonary edema.
The death was announced to the press by a sobbing
Father Pierfranco Pastore, vice director of the Vatican press
office, who said, “With deep anguish, I have to say that the
pope passed on at 9:40.”
In his 15-year reign, the pontiff saw the completion of
the historic Second Vatican Council; traveled around the
world earning the popular title of “pilgrim pope;” made
initiatives for peace, ecumenical cooperation and protection
of life; and streamlined and modernized church
government.
The day before the pope’s death the Vatican had
announced that the arthritis that has troubled him for
several years had worsened and that doctors had ordered a
complete rest. His usual Sunday noon Angelus talk was
cancelled.
The pope was stricken by a heart attack on Sunday
afternoon about 5 p.m. while he was assisting at a Mass
celebrated by his personal secretary, Father Pasquale
Macchi.
At 7:30 p.m. Vatican sources said that the pope’s
condition had stabilized, but it was also announced that he
had received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.
With the pope as death drew near, in addition to his
personal secretary, physician and confessor, was Cardinal
Jean Villot, Vatican secretary of state and camerlengo, or
chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church. As camerlengo,
Cardinal Villot assumes the government of the church after
the pope’s death until a new pope is elected. He summons
and directs the conclave of cardinals which is to elect a new
pope.
The church bells tolled, and all the lights in
Castelgandolfo were turned off in mourning.
After midnight, few apart from television cameramen,
jouranlists and policemen remained in the square outside
the closed, locked doors of the villa.
Although for the past year, there has been speculation
about the pope’s health and the possibility of his death,
death did at last come suddenly.
Three days before his death, the pope received
privately at the summer villa Italy’s newly elected
president, 81-year-old Socialist Sandro Pertini.
And on Aug. 1, the pope left the papal villa to drive to
the nearby little town of Frattocchie, where he visited the
tomb of Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, a personal friend of
his who had died eight years ago.
To the small crowd present, the pope said, “We hope
to meet him after death, which for us cannot be far away,
in the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Vatican Radio interrupted its programs to announce in
several languages the death of Pope Paul.
“We invite all the faithful to pray for the soul of the
Holy Father and to gather in prayer to ask the Lord for
pity for the Holy Father,” the radio announcer said.
The bells began tolling in the tiny village of
Castelgandolfo, where the pope has spent every summer of
his 15-year pontificate, and lights were darkened
throughout the town to mark his passing.
A heavy iron chain was locked across the papal palace,
a traditional act when a pope dies.
In Rome, bells from the Eternal City’s basilicas and
churches tolled their mourning. Italian state television
broke away from its usual programming and showed scenes
from the pontiff’s life while playing the slow movement
from Anton Dvorak’s “New World” symphony.
Along with the priests, religious and people
of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, I wish to express
our deep sorrow upon this occasion of the death
of Our Holy Father, Pope Paul VI. We are
children who have had a loving Father and we
shall prayerfully remember him.
The Holy Father was a strong and vital
leader of the Church during his 15 years as
Supreme Pontiff. They were difficult years of
change and the implementation of renewal. The
Pope met every challenge as he worked to
deepen the spiritual life of the Church in the
spread of the Gospel.
We shall remember him as one who served
in the Office of Successor of St. Peter with
dignity, compassion and greatness.
(7. *£)
Archbishop of Atlanta
World Leaders Hail Pontiff
The funeral and burial of Pope Paul VI have been set for Saturday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. Rome time (12:00 p.m. (EDT), in
St. Peter’s Basilica. The body of the pontiff was transferred from the papal summer palace at Castelganbolfo Aug. 9. It will be
on public view before the Altar of the Confession, built over the tomb of St. Peter, Thursday and Friday, Aug. 10-11.
Priests of the Archdiocese of Atlanta will concelebrate a Funeral Mass for the pope at the Cathedral of Christ the King on
Saturday, Aug. 12 at 12:10 p.m. Archbishop Donnellon will be the principal celebrant and homolist.
Cardinal Villot had been spending the vacation period
with the pope at Castelgandolfo.
As radio and television spread the news of the pope’s
death, a crowd gathered in Piazza della Liberia, the square
outside the papal villa where crowds used to come for his
blessing on Wednesdays and Sundays.
A policeman, one of the Carabinieri assigned to
summer duty at Castelgandolfo, said later that the crowd
included both the sad and the curious. “It strikes us all a
bit,” he said. “After all, there’s only one pope.”
Almost immediately after his death, villagers and
visiting nuns, priests and tourists began to converge on the
church of San Tomasa de Villanova on the piazza, and a
Mass was offered for the repose of Pope Paul’s soul.
A memorial Mass was scheduled for Monday night at
St. Peter’s Basilica, and a Requiem Mass expected to be
attended by many heads of state would be held later.
Officials in the Vatican began immediately to make
preparations for the traditional nine days of mourning in
Rome and for the conclave that would elect Pope Paul’s
successor. The conclave, under papal election laws, must
begin between the 15th and 20th day after the pope’s
death.
Until a new pope is elected, Cardinal Jean Villot,
Vatican secretary of state, is in charge of the ordinary
affairs of the church.
Religious and civil leaders hailed Pope Paul VI as an
extraordinary figure on the world scene.
The tributes began within hours of the pope’s death
Sunday (Aug. 6).
Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco, president
of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the
U.S. Catholic Conference, called Pope Paul “one of the
century’s greatest popes” and “a man of extraordinary
vision.”
Bishop Thomas C. Kelly, general secretary of the
NCCB and the USCC, labeled Paul “one of the boldest and
most innovative of popes.”
Archbishop Quinn messaged condolences at the pope’s
death to Cardinal Jean Villot, Vatican secretary of state.
“The bishops of our conference, our priests, Religious
and lay people join me in sentiments of sorrow at the death
of His Holiness, Paul VI,” the Archbishop’s message read.
“As we commend him to the loving mercy of Christ,
we also thank our graciious Lord for giving to his church so
wise and courageous a pope whose memory will ever be in
benediction.”
A White House spokesman said U.E. President Jimmy
Carter was “deeply shocked” at the news of the pope’s
death. Carter’s mother, Lillian, was among the last of Pope
Paul’s visitors when she met him in a private audience late
last month.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a statement,
“Pope Paul was a deeply compassionate man, who shared
my own particular concern for the plight of refugees and
other victims of war and catastrophe around the world.”
The brother of the first Catholic president in the
United States added, “He will be missed not only as a
leader of his church, but also as one who made an
enormous contribution toward promoting peace and
Christian values for all mankind.”
Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti said, “We will
remember him with unbreakable affection, with admiration
and with nostalgia.”
President Jimmy Carter said Pope Paul had “served as a
clear moral beacon to a troubled world.”
Here is the text of the president’s statement:
“I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope
Paul VI, a man whose life and work have served me
personally as a source of great moral inspiration. He was a
man of peace and profound spirituality. He will be greatly
missed, not only by all Roman Catholics but by all people,
whatever their religious convictions.
“Of Pope Paul’s many contributions, two stand out for
me at this sad moment. First, his untiring efforts in the
ecumenical movement; not only was he inspired in the
cause of humanity to pursue greater unity of purpose
within the Catholic Church, but also among all other faiths.
Second, Pope Paul’s world travels, at no small expense to
his own physical wellbeing, exemplified his role of pilgrim,
carrying the message of peace and love to the far comers of
the world, including an inspiring visit to the United States.
“During his 15 years as pontiff, the voice of Paul VI
served as a clear moral beacon to a troubled world. With his
passing, we have all been deprived of a strong voice for
reason, for moderation and for peace.”
In London, Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury,
primate of the Anglican Church, said Paul’s death “brings
to an end a period which held within it great difficulty for
the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.”
“Pope Paul met these difficulties and faced these
problems with a total devotion to the truth, as he saw it,
and the church over which he presided,” Archbishop
Coggan said.
orgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 16 No. 28
Wednesday, August 9,1978
$5 Per Year