Pope Francis announces beatification date for Paul VI

[muriel_volestrangler]

Pope Francis has set another of his predecessors on the road to sainthood.

He approved a miracle credited to the intercession of Paul VI - who died in 1978 after a 15-year pontificate and is remembered by many for his ban on artificial contraception for Catholics.
...
But Italian media report the miracle involved a Californian baby who was born healthy despite the pre-birth diagnoses of a ruptured foetal bladder and absence of amniotic fluid.

The mother reportedly refused to abort the child, instead praying for Paul VI's intercession at the behest of a nun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27357192

So, going for the 'anti-abortion is saintly' angle.

Do any DU Catholics think much of him? Beatifying the man who is mainly responsible for the "no contraception" nonsense seems a pretty backward step to me.

[cbayer]

1. He's the first pope I was ever aware of.

What I remember most about him is the changes that took place after Vatican 2, but that's pretty vague.

I'm wondering if Pope Francis is doing all this sainting as a way of reforming what it is. Perhaps moving away from the whole miracle thing into something more about actions taken one's lifetime.

Sure does seem to be a rash of these.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. he didn't move away from the miracle requirement.

There were only three paragraphs in the op, two of which covered the required "miracle".

What on earth was your conjecture that Francis was moving away from the "whole miracle thing" based on?

Wishful thinking?

[rug]

6. Here's more than three paragraphs.

http://pmr.uchicago.edu/sites/pmr.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Harvey,%20The%20Role%20of%20the%20Physician%20in%20Certifying%20Miracles%20in%20the%20Canonization%20Process%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Church%20III_0.pdf

[skepticscott]

5. So you're saying that Francis wants to downgrade

the requirements for sainthood to "was a really swell fellow", instead of "did magical stuff"?

[rug]

2. The timing is interesting.

The beatification ceremony is set for October 19, at the conclusion of the Third Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, on the Family.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia//synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20131105_iii-assemblea-sinodo-vescovi_en.html

The Pope whose lasting legacy is Humane Vitae, the encyclical which most affected Catholic families in the last half century, will be elevated at a synod to address the current state of Catholic families.

I can't read tea leaves but I'm betting that encyclical will be addressed at the synod. Either it will be updated to address the realities of family life, or it will be reaffirmed and the lines drawn.

I bet the daggers will be out at the Curia over the next five months.

[cbayer]

3. Interesting indeed.

Would love to be a fly on the wall in some of these meetings.

[Starboard Tack]

7. Big mistake IMO

Francis is cashing in a lot of gold stamps sanctifying this guy. Joe Montini was probably the most unpopular and divisive Pope since Pius Xll.

[rug]

8. Didn't he play for the San Francisco d'Assissi 49ers?

[AtheistCrusader]

9. The guy's dead. Let him be. No need to beat him.