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October 11
Blessed John XXIII
(1881-1963)
Although few people had as great an
impact on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much
as possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of
his most remarkable qualities.
The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo in northern Italy, Angelo
Giuseppe Roncalli was always proud of his
down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo’s diocesan seminary, he joined the Secular
Franciscan Order.
After his ordination in 1904, Angelo returned to Rome for canon law studies. He soon worked as
his bishop’s secretary, Church history teacher in the seminary and as publisher
of the diocesan paper.
His service as a stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during
World War I gave him a firsthand knowledge of war. In 1921 he was made national director of the
Society for the Propagation of the Faith; he found time to teach patristics at a seminary in the Eternal City
In 1925 he became
a papal diplomat, serving first in Bulgaria, then in Turkey and finally in
France (1944-53).
During World War II, he became well acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders and
with the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, Archbishop Roncalli
helped save an estimated 24,000 Jewish people.
Named a cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953, he was
finally a residential bishop. A month short of entering his 78th year, he was
elected pope, taking the name John, his father’s name and the two patrons of
Rome’s cathedral, St. John Lateran. He took his work very seriously but not
himself. His wit soon became proverbial and he began meeting with political and
religious leaders from around the world. In 1962 he was deeply involved in
efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis.
His most famous encyclicals were Mother and Teacher (1961) and Peace on Earth (1963). Pope John XXIII enlarged the
membership in the College of Cardinals and made it more international. At his
address at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the
“prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and
ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said, “The Church has
always opposed... errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to
make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”
On his deathbed he said: “It is not that the gospel has changed;
it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long
as I have…were enabled to compare different cultures and traditions, and know
that the moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the
opportunity and to look far ahead.”
He died on June 3, 1963. Pope John Paul II beatified him in
2000.
Comment:
Throughout his life, Angelo Roncalli
cooperated with God’s grace, believing that the job at hand was worthy of his
best efforts. His sense of God’s providence made him the ideal person to
promote a new dialogue with Protestant and Orthodox Christians, as well as with
Jews and Muslims. In the sometimes noisy crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, many
people became silent on seeing the simple tomb of Pope John XXIII, grateful for
the gift of his life and holiness. After the beatification, his tomb was moved
into the basilica itself.
Quote:
In 1903, young Angelo wrote in his spiritual journal:
“From the saints I must take the substance, not the accidents of their virtues.
I am not St. Aloysius, nor must I seek holiness in his particular way, but
according to the requirements of my own nature, my own character and the
different conditions of my life. I must not be the dry, bloodless reproduction
of a model, however perfect. God desires us to follow the examples of the
saints by absorbing the vital sap of their virtues and turning it into our own
life-blood, adapting it to our own individual capacities and particular
circumstances. If St. Aloysius had been as I am, he would have become holy in a
different way” (Journal of a Soul).
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