Il papa pellegrino e il Concilio. I primi viaggi internazionali di Paolo VI nei diari e nelle lettere del Vaticano II (1963-1965)

Paul VI's first three international journeys – the first ever in the modern history of the papacy – took place during the Second Vatican Council (Holy Land, 4-6 January 1964; India, 2-5 December 1964; United Nations, 4-5 October 1965). And, like the Council, they were meant to reform the Church, so that it could re-establish its influence in the modern world. This article examines how Paul VI's pilgrimages to the Holy Land, India and the United Nations were recounted in the diaries and letters of Vatican II. Some Council fathers and experts, such as French Dominican priest and theologian Yves Congar, reacted enthusiastically to all those journeys. Some others, such as Brazilian archbishop Hélder Pessoa Câmara, reacted with enthusiasm to some of these journeys and with reservations to others (for example, Câmara reacted with enthusiasm to Paul VI's pilgrimages to India and the United States and with some wariness towards the pope's visit to the Holy Land). Finally, some others, like Angelina Alberigo (who also records the reaction of her husband Giuseppe and Dossetti) reacted with misgivings towards all of these papal journeys. Overall, the study of the reception of Paul VI's first international journeys among the Council fathers and experts allows us to better understand both the relationship between the pope and the Council and the way the figure of the pope was imagined in the early 1960s