WORLD NEWS FEBRUARY 17, 2018 / 9:23 AM / UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO

Late Pope Paul VI to be made saint this year, Pope Francis says

Philip Pullella
2 MIN READ

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The late Pope Paul VI, who led the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s and 1970s during one of its most turbulent modern periods and enshrined its opposition to contraception, will be made a saint this year, Pope Francis has decided.

Francis made the announcement on Thursday at a private meeting with Rome priests. The Vatican issued the transcript of the conversation on Saturday.

When he made the announcement on Thursday, Francis joked that he and former Pope Benedict, who resigned in 2013 and is now 90 years old, “are on the waiting list”.

Paul became pope in 1963 after the death of Pope John XXIII. He guided the Church through the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which had started under his predecessor, and the implementation of its modernizing reforms. He died in 1978.

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