One of the more under-appreciated men of recent times to me in the Church is Pope John XXIII. However, it is worth remembering that 'Pope John' made great progress in bringing the Papacy to ordinary people in the Church. He was absolutely unmatched in his ability to deal with people on an individual basis and make them feel they had a great deal in common. This is undoubtedly due to his humble background, coming from a family of peasant farmers.
He was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli on November 25, 1881 and served as Papal nuncio to France, priest, Patriarch of Venice and cardinal before being elected Pope on October 28, 1958. The much beloved Pope Pius XII had created more than 50 new cardinals, many non-Italian, and so the election of John XXIII surprised some people. He was 77 at the time of his ascension to the Throne of St Peter and was devoted to the great need of Christian unity as a focus for his pontificate. After serving in World War I and II, with diplomatic missions to Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and France, this was a goal John XXIII was uniquely qualified for.
In 1960 he established a Secretariat for Christian Unity and recieved the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury that same year. In 1961 he sent friendly greetings to the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople and allowed observers to attend the World Council of Churches. He focused to a great extent on his pastorial role and, like Pope Leo XIII, referred to non-Catholic Christians as "seperated brethren". He also urged Christians to lead the way in ending poverty and encouraged the rich to help the poor. He was a major force of peace in the Cold War era and said that in the nuclear age, violence was no longer sensible as a way to repair a violation of justice. President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Kruschev gave Pope John XXIII a great deal of credit for difusing the tensions of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis
The major remembrance of the reign of Pope John XXIII will always be his calling of the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965 which was called to answer modernization and in the hope of reuniting the "seperated brethren" with the Church of Rome. He also began the effort to revise canon which was finally finished in 1983 under Pope John Paul II. The much beloved Pope John reigned 4 years, 7 months and 6 days before his death on June 3, 1963. Perhaps having seen in his final moments the turmoil that would be caused by Vatican II he called out from his bed to stop the council. His request was unheeded. |
