VATICAN CITY, 9 SEP 2008 (VIS) - Made public yesterday evening was a Letter from the Pope to Bishop Luciano Monari of Brescia, Italy, for the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI.
In his Letter the Holy Father describes how Servant of God Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini), a native of the diocese of Brescia, "was called by Divine Providence to guide the Church during a historical period marked by no small number of challenges and problems".
In recalling his predecessor's pontificate (1963-1978), Benedict XVI remarks upon "the missionary ardour that animated him and encouraged him to make demanding apostolic journeys, even to distant countries, and to perform acts of great ecclesial, missionary and ecumenical significance.
"This Pontiff's name", he adds, "remains linked above all to Vatican Council II. ... With the passage of the years the importance of his pontificate for the Church and for the world is becoming ever clearer, as is the priceless heritage of teaching and virtue which he left to believers and to all humanity".
Pope Benedict express his own appreciation for the trust Paul VI showed in him by appointing him as archbishop of Munich, Germany, in March 1977, and in making him a cardinal three months later.
Recalling Paul VI's death (6 August 1978), he writes: "I give thanks to God for having granted the Church a pastor who was a faithful witness of Christ the Lord, so sincerely and profoundly enamoured of the Church and so close to the hopes and expectations of the men and women of his time".
The Holy Father concludes his Letter by expressing the hope that "each member of the people of God may know how to honour his memory through commitment to a sincere and constant search for the truth".
BXVI-LETTER/PAUL VI/MONARI VIS 20080909 (310)
In his Letter the Holy Father describes how Servant of God Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini), a native of the diocese of Brescia, "was called by Divine Providence to guide the Church during a historical period marked by no small number of challenges and problems".
In recalling his predecessor's pontificate (1963-1978), Benedict XVI remarks upon "the missionary ardour that animated him and encouraged him to make demanding apostolic journeys, even to distant countries, and to perform acts of great ecclesial, missionary and ecumenical significance.
"This Pontiff's name", he adds, "remains linked above all to Vatican Council II. ... With the passage of the years the importance of his pontificate for the Church and for the world is becoming ever clearer, as is the priceless heritage of teaching and virtue which he left to believers and to all humanity".
Pope Benedict express his own appreciation for the trust Paul VI showed in him by appointing him as archbishop of Munich, Germany, in March 1977, and in making him a cardinal three months later.
Recalling Paul VI's death (6 August 1978), he writes: "I give thanks to God for having granted the Church a pastor who was a faithful witness of Christ the Lord, so sincerely and profoundly enamoured of the Church and so close to the hopes and expectations of the men and women of his time".
The Holy Father concludes his Letter by expressing the hope that "each member of the people of God may know how to honour his memory through commitment to a sincere and constant search for the truth".
BXVI-LETTER/PAUL VI/MONARI VIS 20080909 (310)
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