🚨June 21, 1963 - Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini, 65-year-old Archbishop of Milan, was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church today. He will reign as Pope Paul VI. The man who had been described as the most likely prince of the church to succeed Pope John XXIII manifested his intention of continuing his predecessor’s policies by confirming Amleto Giuseppe Cardinal Cicognani as Apostolic Secretary of State. Cardinal Cicognani held the post under John XXIII. Pope Paul was elected on the fifth ballot conducted in the Sacred College of Cardinals. The news that the more than 500 million Roman Catholics in the world had a new spiritual leader was given at 11:22 a.m. by a white puff of smoke from a stovepipe on the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The new Pope, a native of the Lombardy region, will be the 262nd occupant of the throne of St. Peter. The coronation of Paul VI will take place in St. Peter’s Basilica early in the morning of June 30, the day President Kennedy is to arrive in Rome during his 10-day tour of Europe.
