Bishops welcome Pope Paul VI beatification

MANILA, May 12, 2014— Church leaders are affirming they are delighted by the official announcement that Pope Francis will beatify the first pontiff who visited the Philippines, Pope Paul VI.

The bishops, among them Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, said that Pope Paul VI is held in great esteem,not just by church leaders, but by people of good will in the world.

“I am very happy for him. It was in his papacy that Vatican II was held. Blessed Paul VI succeeded Pope John XXIII, who opened Vatican II,” he said.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes noted how Paul VI defended the sanctity of human life and the family through his encyclical Humanae Vitae, published in 1968

The encyclical reaffirmed the Church’s teaching against artificial contraception and abortion.

“It is a very good decision. He wrote the prophetic encyclical letter Humanae Vitae for which he suffered very much,” Bastes said.

Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao, meanwhile, said that Paul VI “was a good shepherd of God’s flock, very simple and holy.”

“Paul VI was very firm in the teachings of the church during a time of crises and turbulence in the world,” he said.

Paul VI, who will be beatified at the Vatican on October 19, was the first pope to visit the Philippines in 1970, ahead of Saint John Paul II. (CBCPNews)