20 Years Later They Call Paul VI a Prophet

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Aug. 15—On the eve of the publication of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI reportedly told a nervous aide, “Do not be afraid. Twenty years from now they will call me a prophet.” To commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death, Karl Schultz did just that, honoring him as a prophet in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Paul VI's Humanae Vitae is the encyclical letter that reaffirmed Church teaching about of contraception. It correctly predicted that a contraceptive culture would mean more immorality, worse situations for women, disregard for human life, and governments that would push the pill as an easy — but ultimately ineffective — solution to poverty.

Often overlooked, Paul VI's other work was prophetic as well, wrote Schultz, prefiguring Pope John Paul II's unique pontificate. His many trips set the stage for his successor's extensive travels. The Pope also prepared for later anti-communist successes when he “established connections and precedents that John Paul II would use to elicit growing concessions from the communists.”

“Paul VI also helped bring the various parties to the Paris peace talks,” which led to the end of the Vietnam War, he continued — and it was Paul who first said: “If you want peace, work for justice.”

Schultz said the popular Pope did much for women, as well: first of all, by standing single-handedly against contraception, but also by proclaiming the first women as doctors of the Church (Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Sienna), and by other actions.

On a personal note, Shultz added, “[g]ood literature, art, music, and culture touched him as deeply as theology and philosophy.”