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| 1968, July 29 |
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| The pope, in an encyclical (Humanae vitae), condemned all artificial methods of birth control, despite the fact that a papal commission, after long deliberations, had recognized the threat of overpopulation to the world and had recommended approval of certain methods of birth control. The papal encyclical came as a great shock to world opinion and caused considerable consternation in Roman Catholic circles. | 1 |
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| 1970, June 5 |
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| Henry Cabot Lodge was named U.S. president Richard Nixon's personal envoy to the Vatican, reviving a connection established by President Franklin Roosevelt. | 2 |
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| Sept. 12–17 |
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| The World Congress on the Future of the Church brought some 700 theologians to Brussels. Demands were advanced for a more democratic organization of the Church and Church procedures, a greater role for women, etc. In general it was felt that the Church needed a fundamental restructuring in the direction of greater decentralization. | 3 |
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| Oct. 12 |
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| The pope, in a message to a convention of Roman Catholic physicians, declared legal abortion the equivalent of infanticide and called for “absolute respect for man, from the first moment of his conception to his last breath of life.” | 4 |
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| Nov. 23 |
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| By a Motu Proprio, the pope decreed that officials of the Curia should resign voluntarily on reaching the age of 75, and that cardinals, on passing the age of 80, should no longer have a vote in the papal elections. | 5 |
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| Nov. 26–Dec. 6 |
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| A lengthy journey by air took Pope Paul on visits to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Samoa, and Australia. In Manila, an attempt to assassinate him was unsuccessful. | 6 |
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