Pope Paul VI and His Quest for Peace: 1963-1978

About the Book

What happens when a pope dares to speak against the tide of global power?

In A Pope’s Search for Peace: Paul VI 1963–1978, John F. Tuohey offers a compelling religious biography of Pope Paul VI, who transformed the Vatican’s role in world affairs by placing peace at the heart of Catholic social teaching. Often overlooked in modern Church history, Paul VI is rediscovered here as a visionary moral leader whose papacy reshaped Catholic engagement with war, diplomacy, and justice.

This deeply researched first volume, Never Again War!, commemorates the 60th anniversary of Paul VI’s groundbreaking 1965 address to the United Nations General Assembly, where he boldly proclaimed: “Never again one against the other! Never again war!” The book explores his unprecedented visit to New York, his historic meeting with President Lyndon Johnson, and the ethical stance that led him to challenge U.S. bombing strategy in Vietnam. His condemnation was so direct that the U.S. State Department described his views as "unbalanced."

Tuohey reveals how Paul VI, inheriting what he called the “hornet’s nest” of Vatican II, guided the Church toward a new attitude on war, nuclear deterrence, and conscientious objection. The narrative follows his pivotal role in initiating the Paris Peace Talks and shaping Church doctrine through moral leadership, not neutrality.

Blending theology, international relations, and personal history, A Pope’s Search for Peace is essential reading for those interested in Catholic social thought, religious diplomacy, and papal influence on modern peace movements.

This is not just the story of a pope. It is the return of a forgotten voice who still speaks with power to our fractured world.

Ideal for readers of religious biography, Vatican II history, Catholic social teaching, papal diplomacy, and the ethics of war.

Join the rediscovery of Paul VI’s legacy and his enduring call to peace.

About the Author

Rev John F Tuohey, PhD. is a retired priest of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts, ordained in 1981 after completing his studies at the American College of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He successfully defended his PhD in 1986 at the same university specializing in healthcare ethics. He taught at the Catholic University of America from 1986 until he assumed the newly created Andrew & Beverly Honzel Chair in Applied Health Care Ethics at Providence Health & Services in Portland, Oregon in 1998. He returned to his diocese in 2017 and retired as a pastor in 2022 to pursue to a more contemplative lifestyle as an Oblate of St Benedict of the monastery of St Mary’s in Petersham, MA, and to write. His first book, Striving to be Perfect as the Heavenly Father is Perfect, explores the meaning of Christian maturity and forgiveness. He lives in his home parish with his “buddy,” retriever/lab Allister.