Pope Paul VI greeting children during a Rome parish visit in 1968. Although passed over as a cardinal before the 1958 conclave, Archbishop Giovanni Montini received several votes, making him the first non-cardinal in centuries to receive votes in an election. (CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani)
We are often pessimistic when we see that our Catholic Church
not only has many problems but is involved in horrendous scandals such as
pedophilia and other repulsive crimes. However, this negative side of the
ecclesia of Jesus has another luminous and sanctifying aspect – her holy and
faithful men and women.
Never before as in the past century have we been witness to such holiness of the institution. Think for instance about Jose Escriva, Maximilian Kolbe, Bishop Romero – to only mention a few.
In my long life during which I have been able to serve eight popes, I also lived in the same country as some of these holy people – martyrs of religious persecution Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, or Padre Pio, who heard my confession, and Mother Teresa who came twice to Vancouver and many of us had the good fortune to meet.
Another hero of our Church, Giovanni Battista Montini, who will possibly be canonized later this year, I knew as a simple priest, as monsignor, as Archbishop of Milan, as cardinal, and as Supreme Pontiff from June 21, 1962, to Aug. 6, 1978. He was born in Concesio, Lombardy, Italy on Sept. 26, 1897, and died at Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
He was the second of three children. His father was a lawyer and his mother instilled a love of music, art, and languages in her sons. She was president of Catholic Women’s Action.
The young Montini was devout and intelligent but plagued by medical problems that he never fully overcame. Educated in Jesuit schools, he also attended the state Liceo of Brescia. He was especially close to the Oratorian priests and entered Brescia’s diocesan seminary but studied and lived at home. Giovanni Montini was ordained priest at the age of 22 on May 29, 1920. He was sent to Rome to graduate in literature at Sapienza University and philosophy and canon law at the Gregorian University. In 1922 he was selected to attend the Pontifical Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, the school for training Vatican diplomats.
Montini began his 30 years of service in the Vatican Secretariat of State. During these years, in 1937, he was named sostituto, secretary surrogate, for ordinary Church affairs, serving Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the secretary of state. When Pacelli became pope in 1939 and took the name Pius XII, Montini continued in the same post.
During World War II, Montini had many duties – to deal with the relief efforts of the Holy See, to oversee the tracking of prisoners of war, and to protect political prisoners, especially Jews.
After the war, he helped organize the Holy Year in 1950 and the Marian Year in 1954. In 1952, Pius XII asked both Montini and Monsignor Domenico Tardini to accept the cardinalate, but they both declined the honour.
In the 1954 consistory, the papal senate, when Pius XII named new cardinals, he unexpectedly appointed Montini as Archbishop of Milan – a decision that may have been prompted by some who had internal conflicts within the Roman Curia. Why this decision that apparently demoted this high-ranking prelate and shut the door to the papacy for him, when the Pope was not far from death? This was the second exclusion from promotion for Montini as Pius XII did not upgrade him to secretary of state when Cardinal Luigi Maglioni died in 1944. These tremendous facts show the immense spirituality that Montini possessed.
As soon as Montini was appointed Archbishop of Milan he departed Rome with some anxiety, but he was determined to take up the herculean pastoral challenges in Milan with its 3.5 million people, 1,000 churches and 2,500 priests.
It was expected that Pius XII would name Montini a cardinal soon after his appointment to Milan, but it did not happen, and the Pope died in 1958.
Montini was not able to attend the conclave but his name appeared on several of the ballots, thus making him the first non-cardinal in centuries to receive votes in an election. The conclave chose Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice, who became John XXIII on Oct. 28, 1958. In his consistory, three months later, he elevated Montini to cardinal and announced his intention to convene the Second Vatican Council and appointed Montini as president of the Central Preparatory Commission.
I must confess that even Cardinal Eugene Tisserant, who I accompanied to the conclave as his private secretary, was very mortified by the humiliation of the Archbishop of Milan at being excluded from the conclave that elected John XXIII, but Montini’s acceptance of the will of God is such proof of his holiness.