Pope St John XXIII

Pope St John XXIII (1881-1963)

Some call him a revolutionary Pope. Others see him as having destroyed the traditional church. Yet others love him for the innovation and aggiornamento he brought to the Catholic Church. When the Cardinals elected him in 1958, after 20 years of Pope Pius XII, they thought they will have a brief papacy and then move on from there. But how mistaken were they.

Born in 1881 in Sotto il Monte, Bergamo, Italy, he was one of 13 children, although many of his siblings died at a young age, but three of them lived to see him elected Pope. He was ordained a priest in 1904, and was soon chosen to be secretary to the Bergamo Cardinal. He had to serve in the armed forces during World War I, both as a chaplain and as a stretcher-bearer. Then he became spiritual director in the Seminary, and Director of the Missionary Office. By 1925 he was already a bishop as a delegate to Bulgaria, and later on as Nuncio to France during World War II, when he helped many avoid the concentration camps. In 1953 he was elevated to Cardinal and made Patriarch of Venice. When Pope Pius XII died he went to the conclave with a return ticket to Venice.

Vatican Council II in session.

But the other cardinals surprisingly elected him and he chose the name John XXIII. Quickly he set his sights on renovating the church, and called the Second Vatican Council, which meant a lot of work and coordination to bring to Rome all the bishops of the world. Many people said he was opening a window for some fresh air to the church, but it ended up to be more like a hurricane, with all the changes that resulted from the promulgation of the decrees of Vatican II. He died on June 3, 1963 and Pope Blessed Paul VI was elected to continue the work of Vatican II. John XXIII was canonized along with Pope St John Paul II on April 27, 2014. He kept many diaries in his youth and during retreats, all of which were published in the classic ‘Journal of a Soul.’ He was a very much beloved Pope and joked frequently, even about his size. When he was asked how many people work in the Vatican, he answered “About half!” On another occasion, he said that Italians usually ruin themselves in three ways, women, gambling and farming. Then he said “and my family chose the most boring way.” We thank him for the changes he brought to the Catholic church, especially that we can celebrate Mass in our own language, and have lay people actively involved in our liturgies and pastoral work. His feast day is not the date of his death, but the day that Vatican Council II started on October 11, 1962.