Fifty years ago next week, Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam, a groundbreaking document that changed the way the Church understood itself. No longer simply wagging a finger at the modern world, the Church began to enter into dialogue with it with his emphasis on the Church as a “servant”, his eagerness to meet people and his openness to voices outside the Church, Pope Francis sometimes seems to strike a novel note. Of course there is much in his outlook and personality that is particular to himself. But he also embodies an understanding of the Church and a relish for dialogue that echo the teaching of Pope Paul VI, whom he frequently quotes. Paul’s vision for the Church was set out in a groundbreaking encyclical letter, Ecclesiam Suam, which was p