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NEW YORK (CBS) ― Pope Benedict XVI made his highly anticipated arrival in the United States on Tuesday, April 15. However, the first time a pope set foot on American soil was 43 years ago, when Pope Paul VI arrived in New York City to address the United Nations. He visited President Lyndon B. Johnson and spoke at Yankee Stadium on a brisk Monday in October.

As excited as Catholics across the country were on October 4, 1965, their enthusiasm probably paled in comparison to that of Pope Paul VI himself, who commemorated the visit with words of cheer and celebration.

 1965: Pope Paul's Motorcade Passes Through Queens

"This is this day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad today! This is the day which we have desired for centuries! The day which, for the first time, sees the Pope setting foot on this young and glorious continent! An historic day, for it recalls and crowns the long years of the evangelization of America, and the magnificent development of the Church in the United States! All honour to you, brothers and sons! Peace and joy in Christ to you, whom we wish we could individually receive and embrace!"

The Pontiff's joy was not reserved solely for Catholics, but was broadly spread to encompass the faithful in other religious traditions.

"We are most happy to greet at the same time, with all reverence and sincerity, those Christian brothers here present, separated from us, yet united with us by baptism and by belief in the Lord Jesus. We keep them all in our heart and in our prayers. We also greet those here present who follow other religious beliefs, and who in good conscience intend to seek and honour Almighty God, the Lord of heaven and earth; among whom the descendants of Abraham have our particular consideration."

The Pontiff also honored Americans as a worthy people, acknowledging our civilization as having based "its conception of life on spiritual values, on a religious sense, on the rule of law, on freedom, on loyalty, on work, on the respect of duty, on family affection, on generosity and courage."

And, in accordance with his title of "Holy Father," this Pope spoke not only in paternal tones of praise and joy, honor and family, but also of warning, wrapped in the mantle of hope, so that the American people may evade potential danger.

"We pay honour to the human and civil virtues of this great people, and in these virtues we recognize valuable derivations from Christian values, which we hope will ever remain living and active, safeguarding the American spirit from those dangers which prosperity itself can entail, and which the materialism of our day can make even more menacing. From its brief but heroic history, this young and flourishing country can derive lofty and convincing examples to encourage it in its future progress." 

Hours after arriving in New York, Pope Paul VI, visited the Catholic Archbishop of New York Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman at his residence.  He met with President Lyndon B. Johnson, a few hours later. 

According to AP, the trip presented several protocol problems. President Johnson wanted to see him, but the Pontiff was a chief of a state not officially recognized by the U.S. The solution: Johnson flew to New York for dinner at the apartment of his friend Arthur Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the Pontiff was welcomed to Johnson's suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel the next day. 

 Pope Paul Meets With President Johnson At Waldorf (1965)
 Inside Pope Paul's Meeting With Pres. Johnson (1965)
 Timeline Of American Presidents With Popes (1965)
 Pope Leaves Waldorf Astoria (1965)

Above all, the Pontiff came to America, and addressed the crowd at Yankee Stadium, with a message of peace.

"What are we to say to you, that can correspond to the duties of our apostolic ministry and be adequate to the spirit of this unique occasion? Our words can only be the words to the Gospel, which has just been read to you; the words of the risen Jesus, which He repeated three times: 'Peace be to you!' Truly, verily, Peace be to you!"

On each of the following themes: to love peace, to serve peace, and to support upon a firm foundation the cause of peace, Pope Paul VI offered his insight. 

On loving peace:

"In the past, it was not always so in the education of minds and the training of citizens; but today it must be so; we must love peace, because its dwelling is first in men's hearts, and only afterwards in the external condition of society."

On serving peace:

"Peace is not a state which can be acquired and made permanent. Peace must be built; it must be built up every day by works of peace. These works of peace are, first of all, social order; then, aid to the poor, who still make up an immense multitude of the world population, aid to the needy, the weak, the sick, the ignorant."

On supporting peace:

"Peace must be based on moral and religious principles, which will make it sincere and stable. Politics do not suffice to sustain a durable peace. The absence of conflict does not suffice to make of peace a source of happiness and of true human progress."

And having spoke of celebration, of warning, and of duty, the Pontiff made an end to his homily with these words: "Coming among you at a moment, so beautiful, so brief but so important, as this, We have no better greeting, no better remembrance for you than to repeat that holy salutation of Christ: Peace, His peace!"

 People React To Pope Paul's Motorcade (1965)
 Papal Motorcade Through NYC (1965)

Biography:

Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini was born on September 26, 1897 at Concesio (Lombardy), and died on August 6, 1978.

He was born to a well-off family, the son of a non-practicing lawyer father, and a mother of similar economic background.

Because of his poor health, he received his early education from Jesuits near his home in Brescia, even through his seminary years until he was ordained a priest in 1920.

At the Gregorian University in Rome, he continued his theology studies. He also transferred to the Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici in 1922 to study diplomacy - a discipline that would serve him later during the Second Vatican Council.

He took up a teaching position at the Ecclesiastici and became the chaplain to the Federation of Italian Catholic University Students (FUCI).

Montini worked under Cardinal Pacelli, and continued to do so even after the latter was elected as Pope Pius XII in 1939. From this position, he organized relief work and helped to succor political refugees through World War II.

Pope Pius XII appointed Montini to the Archbishopric of Milan, a position he received on January 5, 1955.

As the "Archbishop of the workers," Montini worked to increase Catholicism among the laboring class and promoted both Catholic education and press. His labors in Milan earned him reknown and eventually his appointment to the Central Preparatory Commission for Vatican II.
 
The Council's proceedings were halted by the death of Pope John XXIII, who succeeded Pope Pius XII on October 28, 1958. Montini was elected Pope Paul VI on June 21, 1963, and immediately used his diplomacy learning to advance the Second Vatican Council. 

Pope Paul VI took firm stances on both the enforced celibacy of priests and the prohibition on birth control, which drew controversy to the Papacy. 

Prior to his death, he asked that his funeral be simple with no catafalque and no monument over his grave.

Famous Quotes:

"If you want peace, work for justice."

"If you wish to be brothers, let the arms fall from your hands.  One cannot love while holding offensive arms."

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