Blessed Pope John XXIII
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Come to us, remain with us, and enlighten our hearts. Give us light and strength to know your will, to make it our own, and to live it in our lives. |
Guide us by your wisdom, support us by your power, for you are God, sharing the glory of Father and Son. |
-excerpt from a prayer used before every session of the Second Vatican Council |
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John XXIII, 1881–1963, pope (1958–63), an Italian (b. Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo) named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; successor of Pius XII. He was of peasant stock. Educated at Bergamo and the Seminario Romano (called the Apollinare), Rome, he was ordained in 1904. While secretary to the bishop of Bergamo (1904–14) he wrote scholarly works, among them a life of St. Charles Borromeo (completed in 5 vol., 1936–52). Called up for service in World War I, he was first in the medical corps and was later a chaplain. After the war he held posts in Rome and reorganized the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
In 1925 he was made archbishop and sent as Vatican diplomatic representative to Bulgaria. Later he was representative in Turkey and Greece, and in 1944 he was named papal nuncio to France. There he acted as mediator between the conservative churchmen and the more socially “radical” clergy; he gained popularity. In 1953 he was made cardinal and the patriarch of Venice. He was elected pope Oct. 28, 1958.
As pope, he put reforms into practice: He laid stress on his own pastoral duties as well as those of other bishops and the lesser clergy; he was active in promoting social reforms for workers, the poor, orphans, and the outcast; he advanced cooperation with other religions (among his innumerable visitors were many Protestant leaders, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the archbishop of Canterbury, and a Shinto high priest).
In April 1959, he forbade Roman Catholics to vote for parties supporting Communism, but his encyclical Mater et Magistra—a vigorous social document issued July 14, 1961, just 30 years after Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno—advocated social reform, assistance to underdeveloped countries, a living wage for all workers, and support for all socialist measures that promised real benefit to society. Pope John XXIII almost doubled the number of cardinals, making the college the largest in history to that point.
On Jan. 25, 1959, he quietly announced the intention of calling an ecumenical council to consider measures for renewal of the church in the modern world, promotion of diversity within the encasing unity of the church, and the reforms that had been earnestly promoted by the ecumenical movement and the liturgical movement. The convening of the council on Oct. 11, 1962, was the high point of his reign (Second Vatican Council). His heartiness, his overflowing love for humanity individually and collectively, and his freshness of approach to ecclesiastical affairs made “Good Pope John” one of the best-loved popes of modern times.
He was succeeded by Paul VI.
John XXIII was beatified in 2000 by Pope John Paul II.
see also: Pope(Papal) | List of Popes | List of Ages of Popes
The 10 Longest Reigning Popes | The 10 Shortest Reigning Popes
For many, even in the Church, the Catholic practice of beatifying and canonizing is an enigma. Why does the Church do it? How does the Church do it? What are the implications of being canonized, or in the case of Pius IX and John XXIII beatified?
Beatification of Pius IX, John XXIII, Tommaso Reggio, William Chaminade and Columba Marmion |
Homily of His Holiness John Paul II Sunday, September 3, 2000 |
Vatican Council, Second, popularly called Vatican II,1962–65, the 21st ecumenical council (see ecumenical) of the Roman Catholic Church, convened by Pope John XXIII and continued under Paul VI. Its announced purpose was spiritual renewal of the church and reconsideration of the position of the church in the modern world. The most spectacular innovation of the council, which convened Oct. 11, 1962, was the invitation extended to Protestant and Orthodox Eastern churches to send observers; the meetings were attended by representatives from many of those churches. Another obvious feature was the diversity of national and cultural origins shown among those who attended from all over the world.
One of the announced aims of the conference was to consider reform of the liturgy, primarily to bring the layman into closer participation in the church services and therefore to encourage some diversity in language and practice. Great emphasis was also laid from the beginning upon the pastoral duties of the bishops, as distinguished from administrative duties. The procedure at the conference accorded with democratic practice, and there was lively debate between the “progressive” and “conservative” groups. By the time of its adjournment the council had issued four constitutions, nine decrees, and three declarations. The nature of these statements was conciliatory, avoiding rigid definitions and condemning anathemas.
Session II (Sept.–Dec., 1963) produced the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (permitting vernacularization of the liturgy and stressing greater lay participation in the ritual) and the decree on the media of social communication.
Out of Session III (Sept.–Nov., 1964) came the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (which espoused the principle of episcopal collegiality with the pope), the decrees on ecumenism and on the Eastern Catholic churches, and the proclamation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Mother of the Church.”
Pope Paul VI opened Session IV (Sept.–Dec., 1965) with the announcement that he was establishing an episcopal synod to assist the pope in governing the church. That final session issued the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World; the decrees on the bishops' pastoral office, on the appropriate renewal of the religious life (i.e., the life of the religious orders), on education for the priesthood, on the ministry and life of priests, on the apostolate of the laity, and on the church's missionary activity; and declarations on Christian education, on religious freedom, and on the relationship of the church to non-Christian religions (which included an important passage condemning anti-Semitism and recognizing “the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock”).
Even before the close of the council Pope Paul began to establish a series of commissions to implement the council's wide-ranging decisions.
additional readings:
First Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The "Great Expectations of the Ecumenial Council"
On Truth, Unity and Peace (Ad Petri Cathedram)
Promulgated 29 June 1959, the first encyclical of John XXIII's reign discusses the three objectives of truth, unity and peace and indicates how they may be achieved and advanced in a spirit of charity.
On St. John Vianney (Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia)
In this encyclical, promulgated 1 August 1959, Pope John XXIII strives to help the clergy to foster and grow in friendship with Christ as the main source of the joy and fruitfulness of their priestly life.
On the Rosary (Grata Recordatio)
Promulgated 26 September 1959, this encyclical concerns the rosary, prayer for the Church, the missions and international and social problems.
On the Missions (Princeps Pastorum)
Promulgated 26 November 1959, concerns the need of extending God's kingdom to the many parts of the world where missionaries labor zealously that the Church may grow and produce wholesome fruits.
Christianity and Social Progress (Mater Et Magistra)
In this groundbreaking encyclical, promulgated on 15 May 1961, Pope John XXIII says "though the Church's first care must be for souls, she concerns herself too with the exigencies of man's daily life, with his livelihood and education, and his general, temporal welfare and prosperity."
On St. Leo the Great (Aeterna Dei Sapientia)
Promulgated on 11 November 1961, commemorating the fifteenth centennial of the death of Pope St. Leo I and focuses on the See of Peter as the center of Christian unity.
On the Need for Penance (Paenitentiam Agere)
Promulgated on 1 July 1 1962, on the need for the practice of interior and exterior penance.
Peace on Earth (Pacem In Terris)
In his final and perhaps best known encyclical, promulgated 11 April 1963, John XXIII tells us that, "Peace on earth, which all men of every era have most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed.