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CONGREGATIO DE CULTU DIVINO ET DISCIPLINA SACRAMENTORUM
Prot. N. 29/19
DECREE
ON THE INSCRIPTION OF THE CELEBRATION OF SAINT PAUL VI, POPE,
IN THE GENERAL ROMAN CALENDAR
Jesus Christ, the fullness of humanity, living and working in the Church,
invites all people to a transforming encounter with Him, who is “the way, the
truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). This is the journey of the Saints. Paul VI made
it following the example of the Apostle whose name he assumed at the moment when
the Holy Spirit chose him as Successor of Peter.
Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) was born on 26 September 1897 at
Concesio (Brescia), in Italy. On 29 May 1920 he was ordained to the priesthood. In 1924 he began his service
to the Supreme Pontiffs, Pius XI and
Pius XII, and at the same time exercised
his priestly ministry among university students. Nominated as the Substitute of
the Secretariat of State he worked during the Second World War to find shelter
for persecuted Jews and refugees. He was later designated Pro-Secretary of
State for the General Affairs of the Church, also because of which he knew and
encountered many of the proponents of the ecumenical movement. Appointed as
Archbishop of Milan, he worked with great care for the diocese. In 1958, he was
elevated to the dignity of a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church by
Pope Saint
John XXIII, and following his death was elected on 21 June 1963 to the See of
Peter. He immediately continued the work begun by his predecessors, in
particular he brought the
Second Vatican Council to its completion and he began
many initiatives that showed his solicitude for the Church and for the
contemporary world. Among these initiatives we ought to recall
his voyages as a
pilgrim, undertaken as an apostolic service which served both as a preparation
for the unity of Christians and in asserting the importance of fundamental human
rights. Furthermore, he exercised his Supreme Magisterium favouring peace,
promoting the progress of peoples and the inculturation of the faith, as well as
the liturgical reform, approving Rites and prayers at once in line with
tradition and with adaptation for a new age. By his authority he promulgated
the Calendar, the Missal, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Pontifical and nearly
all of the Ritual for the Roman Rite with the purpose of promoting the active
participation of the faithful in the Liturgy. At the same time he saw to it
that papal celebrations should take on a more simple form. At Castel Gandolfo
on 6 August 1978, he gave his spirit back to God and, according to his wishes,
he was buried just as he had lived, in a humble manner.
God, the Shepherd and Guide of all the faithful, entrusts his pilgrim Church
through the ages, to those whom he himself has established as Vicars of his
Son. Among these, Paul VI shines out as one who united in himself the pure
faith of Saint Peter and the missionary zeal of Saint Paul. His consciousness
of being the Successor of Peter is evident when we recall that on 10 June 1969,
during a visit to the WorldCouncil of Churches in Geneva, he introduced himself
by saying “My name is Peter”. Nevertheless, he also acknowledged by the name he
chose the mission for which he had been elected. Like Saint Paul he spent his
life for the Gospel of Christ, crossing new boundaries and becoming its witness
by proclamation and dialogue, a prophet of a Church facing outwards, looking to
those far away and caring for the poor. The Church was always, indeed his
constant love, his principal concern, the object of constant reflection, the
first and most fundamental thread of his whole pontificate. He wished nothing
other than the Church would have a greater knowledge of herself in order to be
ever more effective in proclaiming the Gospel.
Having considered this Pope’s holiness of life, witnessed to by his works and
words, and having taken account of the great influence of his apostolic ministry
for the Church throughout the whole world,
Pope Francis, assenting to the
petitions and desires of the People of God, has decreed that the celebration of
Pope Saint Paul VI, should be inserted into the Roman Calendar on 29 May with
the rank of optional memorial.
This new memorial will be inserted into all Calendars and Liturgical Books for
the celebration of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours; the liturgical texts
to be adopted, attached to this Decree, must be translated, approved and, after
the confirmation of this Dicastery, be published by the Episcopal Conferences.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments, 25 January 2019, on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul,
Apostle.
Robert Card. Sarah
Prefect
+Arthur Roche
Archbishop Secretary |
