A very unique photo and blessing of Pope Paul VI while he was the Archbishop of Milan. It is dated May 16th, 1955. His actual baptismal name, Giovanni Battista Montini is used.

There are three lines written in his own hand on this photograph. It is a blessing for a priest’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

This is a very unique portrait of him prior to his pontificate and the only one Father Kunst has seen like this for Paul VI.

When referring to a blessing, these are normally photos of a pope with fancy calligraphy by another hand. They are then signed by the pope with a few extra lines written in their own hand as is the case with this one.