That ’60s Show: “Saint” Paul VI wears Wicker Tiara

Mocking the Papacy since time immemorial…

That ’60s Show: “Saint” Paul VI wears Wicker Tiara

Now that the current papal impostor in Vatican City has declared “Pope” Paul VI (1963-78) a “Saint” to be venerated and imitated by the entire Vatican II Church, it’s not a bad idea to take a look at some of the shenanigans the man otherwise known as Giovanni Battista Montini has made headlines for.

The December 12, 1969 edition of The Guardian, then the official newspaper of the diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, featured the photograph shown above. The caption reads:

Pope Paul Gets A Laugh

Hilarity erupted recently as Pope Paul VI put on a wicker mitre, during a visit by seminarians from the Propaganda Fide College. The papal mitre, made of wicker, was among African handicraft items displayed for the Pope. (NC Photo)

It is not clear why the caption calls the headdress a “miter”, since it is clearly meant to be a tiara, that is, a papal crown (signified by the cross at the top, which miters do not have). Perhaps it’s because Paul VI had already disposed of his own tiara on Nov. 13, 1964, in St. Peter’s Basilica during a session of the Second Vatican Council, as captured in this brief video clip:

According to a report by The New York Times, at the council “Cardinal” Pericle Felici explained that “the Pontiff had been moved to his symbolic act of charity by discussions of world poverty during the current session of Ecumenical Council Vatican II” (“Pope Paul Donates His Jeweled Tiara To Poor of World”, Nov. 14, 1964).

The good thing is that the tiara — also called the triregnum — which Montini abandoned was one made after the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, so it was a Novus Ordo tiara, made specifically for Paul VI, and it looks accordingly. The item was later brought to the United States by Cardinal Francis Spellman, and is now kept on display at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The fate of the wicker tiara, on the other hand, is not known.

Of course Paul VI is not the only pretend-Pope to have a problem with the Papacy. None of his successors ever wore the tiara again, and Benedict XVI was the first to eliminate it even from the “papal” coat of arms.

The papal tiara, which is also called the triregnum, consists of three tiers to signify the triple office the Pope possesses: that of teaching, governing, and sanctifying.

Considering that Paul VI actually held none of these legitimately, it was quite fitting that he should give up this symbol of the papal office.

If only he had relinquished his claim to being Pope, too.

Image source: stparchive.com (screenshot)
License: fair use