Pope Paul Vi a Biography

This pope was elected to the papacy at a crucial time, followed the extraordinarily popular and dynamic Pope John XXIII, and came to power after the first session of Vatican II, the Ecumenical Council called by Pope John to "open the windows of the Church". Aggiornamento was the cry of the day but not in all quarters. There was a stiff resistance to change on the part of powerful prelates in the Church, especially centered in the Curia the administrative arm of the Church. and Giovanni Battista Montini, the Pope-elect, though he had a liberal reputation was a question mark. He had lately been Archbishop of the huge industrial city of Milan, but this was practically his only public exposure. Montini had spent his life as a Vatican diplomat and had been the trusted adviser of Pope Pius XII. The liberals feared that he would not follow Pope John's lead as energetically as they would wish the conservatives pondered the opposite extreme.

Title: Pope Paul Vi a Biography