Blessed Paul VI

His voice, his outstretched hands, his boarding an airplane to meet the world — those are some of the most striking things about Blessed Paul VI that moved and inspired a young man discerning the priesthood.

Documents in the Vatican Secret Archives and the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prove it was a “myth” that Blessed Paul VI largely set out on his own in writing “Humanae Vitae,” the 1968 encyclical on married love and the regulation of births.

Fifty years ago, an encyclical was released affirming a long-held teaching of the Catholic Church, yet it became one of the most controversial encyclicals in recent church history.

The Vatican announced that final approval would be given May 19 for the canonizations of Blesseds Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero and four others.

At a meeting March 6 with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, Pope Francis signed decrees for the causes of 13 men and women — among them a pope, an archbishop, two young laywomen and a number of priests and nuns.

Although Pope Francis announced the upcoming canonization of Blessed Paul VI, he still has not formally signed the decree recognizing the miracle nor held a consistory — a meeting of cardinals — to set the date for the ceremony.

The “liberating truth” of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae” is as relevant today 50 years after its promulgation, and maybe even more so, said Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila in his new pastoral, “The Splendor of Love.”

Inaugurating an Oct. 28 conference anticipating the 50th anniversary of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” Cardinal Brandmuller told participants that in ignoring traditional church teaching men and women today have seated themselves “on the throne of the Creator.”