Pope Paul VI was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1963 to 1978. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants, which resulted in a number of historic meetings and agreements.

POPE PAUL VI

Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Montini) became the first pope to visit six continents, and was the most travelled pope in history at that time, earning him the nickname "the Pilgrim Pope".

In 1970 he was the target of an assassination attempt at Manila International Airport in the Philippines. As Paul and President Marcos pushed through throngs of admirers, a man in gray clerical garb, holding a crucifix, rushed forward. Suddenly he slipped a foot-long Malay dagger out of his sleeve and lunged. Churchmen around the Pope blocked the assailant, and security men swiftly wrestled him out of the way. The would-be assassin, was a Bolivian painter, Benjamin Mendoza.

26 September 1897

to 6 August 1978