Editing Pope Paul VI (section)

=== Roman Curia ===
[[File:Pius XII with Monsignor Montini.jpg|thumb|Montini photographed alongside [[Pope Pius XII]] during his service at the Secretariat of State]]

His organisational skills led him to a career in the [[Roman Curia]], the papal civil service. On 19 October 1925, he was appointed a [[papal chamberlain]] in the rank of Supernumerary Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-17-1925-ocr.pdf |title=MAGGIORDOMATO DI SUA SANTITÀ |trans-title=STEWARDSHIP OF THE HOLY SEE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=5 November 1925 |volume=XVII |issue=13 |page=559 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304190925/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-17-1925-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1931, Cardinal [[Pope Pius XII|Eugenio Pacelli]] appointed him to teach history at the Pontifical Academy for Diplomats;{{Sfn|Franzen|1988|p=419}} he was promoted to Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 8 July of the same year.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-23-1931-ocr.pdf |title=SEGRETARIA DI STATO |trans-title=SECRETARIAT OF STATE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=5 August 1931 |volume=XXIII |issue=9 |page=392 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522173756/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-23-1931-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>  On 24 September 1936, he was appointed a Referendary Prelate of the Supreme Tribunal of the [[Apostolic Signatura]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-28-1936-ocr.pdf |title=SEGRETARIA DI STATO |trans-title=SECRETARIAT OF STATE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=25 November 1936 |volume=XXVIII |issue=14 |page=479 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709200633/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-28-1936-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 16 December 1937,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-29-1937-ocr.pdf |title=SEGRETARIA DI STATO |trans-title=SECRETARIAT OF STATE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=23 December 1937 |volume=XXIX |issue=14 |page=491 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100742/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-29-1937-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> after his mentor Giuseppe Pizzardo was named a cardinal and was succeeded by [[Domenico Tardini]], Montini was named Substitute for Ordinary Affairs under Cardinal Pacelli, the Secretary of State. His immediate supervisor was [[Domenico Tardini]], with whom he got along well. He was further appointed Consultor of the [[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith|Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office]] and of the [[Dicastery for Bishops|Sacred Consistorial Congregation]] on 24 December,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-30-1938-ocr.pdf |title=SEGRETARIA DI STATO |trans-title=SECRETARIAT OF STATE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=31 January 1938 |volume=XXX |issue=1 |page=32 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225190013/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-30-1938-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and was promoted to [[Protonotary apostolic]] (''ad instar participantium''), the most senior class of papal prelate, on 10 May 1938.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-30-1938-ocr.pdf |title=SEGRETARIA DI STATO |trans-title=SECRETARIAT OF STATE |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=15 July 1938 |volume=XXX |issue=8 |page=238 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225190013/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-30-1938-ocr.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pacelli became [[Pope Pius XII]] in 1939 and confirmed Montini's appointment as Substitute under the new [[Cardinal Secretary of State]] [[Luigi Maglione]]. In that role, roughly that of a chief of staff, he met the Pope every morning until 1954 and developed a rather close relationship with him. Of his service to two popes he wrote:
{{Blockquote|It is true, my service to the Pope was not limited to the political or extraordinary affairs according to Vatican language. The goodness of Pope Pius XII opened to me the opportunity to look into the thoughts, even into the soul of this great pontiff. I could quote many details how Pius XII, always using measured and moderate speech, was hiding, nay revealing a noble position of great strength and fearless courage.{{Sfn| Lazzarini|1964|p=58}}}}

When war broke out, Maglione, Tardini, and Montini were the principal figures in the [[Secretariat of State (Holy See)|Secretariat of State]] of the Holy See.<ref>{{cite book |title=Actes et Documents |language=fr |trans-title=Acts & documents |volume=I–XI }}</ref>{{Page needed|date=January 2014}} Montini dispatched "ordinary affairs" in the morning, while in the afternoon he moved informally to the third floor Office of the Private Secretary of the Pontiff, serving in place of a personal secretary.{{Sfn|Lazzarini|1964|p=57}} During the war years, he replied to thousands of letters from all parts of the world with understanding and prayer, and arranging for help when possible.{{Sfn|Lazzarini|1964|p=57}}

At the request of the Pope, Montini created an information office regarding prisoners of war and refugees, which from 1939 to 1947 received almost ten million requests for information about missing persons and produced over eleven million replies.{{Sfn|Pallenberg|1960|p=71}} Montini was several times attacked by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s government for meddling in politics, but the Holy See consistently defended him.{{Sfn|Hebblethwaite|1993|p=155}} When Maglione died in 1944, Pius XII appointed Tardini and Montini as joint heads of the Secretariat, each a Pro-Secretary of State. Montini described Pius XII with a filial admiration:
{{Blockquote|His richly cultivated mind, his unusual capacity for thought and study led him to avoid all distractions and every unnecessary relaxation. He wished to enter fully into the history of his own afflicted time: with a deep understanding, that he was himself a part of that history. He wished to participate fully in it, to share his sufferings in his own heart and soul.{{Sfn|Hebblethwaite|1993|p=195}}}}

As Pro-Secretary of State, Montini coordinated the activities of assistance to persecuted fugitives hidden in Catholic convents, parishes, seminaries, and schools.<ref>Tagliaferri, Lionello. ''The Pope wants ...'', Piacenza, Berti, 2011.</ref>
At the Pope's instruction, Montini, [[Ferdinando Baldelli]], and [[Otto Faller]] established the [[Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza]] (''Pontifical Commission for Assistance''), which supplied a large number of Romans and refugees from everywhere with shelter, food and other necessities. In Rome alone it distributed almost two million portions of free food in 1944.{{Sfn|Pallenberg|1960|p=72}} The Papal Residence of [[Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo|Castel Gandolfo]] was opened to refugees, as was Vatican City in so far as space allowed. Some 15,000 lived in Castel Gandolfo, supported by the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza.{{Sfn|Pallenberg|1960|p=72}} Montini was also involved in the re-establishment of Church Asylum, extending protection to hundreds of Allied soldiers escaped from prison camps, to Jews, anti-Fascists, Socialists, Communists, and after the liberation of Rome, to German soldiers, partisans, displaced persons and others.{{Sfn|Pallenberg|1960|pp=72–73}} As pope in 1971, Montini turned the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza into ''[[Caritas Italiana]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.caritas.it/home_page/who_we_are/00000964_Who_we_are.html |website = Caritas Italiana |access-date = 8 February 2017 |title = Who We Are |archive-date = 1 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160401023953/http://www.caritas.it/home_page/who_we_are/00000964_Who_we_are.html |url-status = live }}</ref>