Paul's road to sainthood

by Madeleine Longley
THE long and arduous process to canonise Pope Paul VI began this week.
The Conference of Argentine bishops were the first to call for such a procedure in late 1988 with a letter signed by Cardinal, Raul Francisco Primatesta. They noted how "Pope Paul VI has taught us love, work, and suffering for the Church of God".
Elected Pope in 1963, Giovanni Montini's pontificate lasted 15 years.
As Pope Paul VI, he presided over the famous and controversial Humanae Vitae document on contraception. Other 20th century pontiffs currently awaiting canonisation are Pope Pius XII (1939-88) who was in the Vatican during the Second World War and Pope John XXIII (l958-63) who was the guiding spirit behind Vatican IL Paul VI's life was recently celebrated in a book by Catholic Herald columnist Peter Hebblethwaite