Pope John XXIII (
November 25, 1881-
June 3, 1963)
served
1958-
1963
"See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little."
Pope John XXIII was the most popular Pope of the 20th century, and perhaps any other, beloved by both
Catholics and non-Catholics. Christened “Good Pope John” by the media, he was the archetype for the modern papacy, a key figure in international affairs and modernizing the church. The key event of his tenure was the Second Vatican Council (
Vatican II), and effort to reform, reenergize, and modernize the church, over the objections of many conservative church officials. John is lionized by more liberal elements of the church, while conservatives blame him for everything that has gone “wrong” with the church since Vatican II.
Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in the small village of
Sotto il Monte in
Bergamo,
Italy, he was the eldest son and one of thirteen children of a peasant family. Encouraged to enter the priesthood by his great uncle Zaviero Roncalli, he was an undistinguished student, his studies briefly interrupted by military service. Nothing in his life indicated that he would become anything more than an insignificant parish priest.
He became the secretary to the
Bishop of Bergamo,
Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi, a man Roncalli greatly admired and would later write a biography of after his death. Both Roncalli and Radini-Tedeschi were caught up in the
McCarthyesque witchhunts initiated by Pope
Pius X, who was determined to root out the forces of “
modernism” in the church. Roncalli, perhaps because of his relative insignificance or his diplomatic skills, emerged unscathed.
During
World War I, Roncalli served in the medical corps. After the war, Pope
Benedict XV, a friend of Radini-Tedeschi (who had died in
1914), recruited Roncalli for a post which would eventually lead to his service in the
Vatican’s diplomatic corps. Pope
Pius XI (whom Roncalli had met during his historical research) made Roncalli an
archbishop and sent him off to
Bulgaria. A decade later, it was
Turkey and
Greece.
During
World War II, he conspired with the German ambassador to Turkey,
Franz von Papen.
Adolf Hitler was funneling a lot of money von Papen’s way to be used to convince (i.e. bribe) the Turks to join the
Axis powers. Von Papen, a Catholic, and Roncalli believed that the
Soviet Union would invade Turkey if they did join up, and they felt that Germany was going to lose anyway. So they used the money to help
Jews and other refugees fleeing the
Nazi terror.
In
1944, Roncalli was appointed papal
nuncio to
Paris, a plum posting which usually didn’t go to obscure archbishops stuck in Eastern
Europe. When he heard the news, Roncalli thought there had been a clerical error at the Vatican. The
French made it clear that they wanted the last guy,
Valerio Valeri, sent home because he was a little too chummy with
Philippe Pétain’s collaborationist government. Roncalli traversed a diplomatic and theological minefield with amazing success, and the French were extremely disappointed at his departure.
In
1953, he was made a
cardinal and the
patriarch of Venice. At 71, he expected this would be his last church posting. Instead, after the death of Pope
Pius XII, the cardinals could not agree on their choice of a new
pontiff, so on the 12th ballot they forged a compromise and chose a safe candidate who would serve a brief tenure (i.e., an old man who would quickly die) and not upset the status quo. Little did they know that Roncalli would transform the church.
He chose the name John after
John the Baptist and because it was his father’s name. Within the first months of his tenure he was already calling for reform to bring the church up to date (
aggiornamento). Chief among these was
Vatican II, which he began over the objections of conservative clerics, who pushed for delay and wanted to drop the matter once John died.
John XXIII initiated many of the papal actions we take for granted from
John Paul II. John traveled freely, a break from the tradition that stuck the Pope in the Vatican. He was active in world affairs and was a voice of restraint and reconciliation during the
cold war. He built bridges to other religions, inspired by his long contact with the
Eastern Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe. Controversially, he allowed Eastern Orthodox,
Anglican, and
Protestant observers at Vatican II. At the Vatican, he received visitors of many faiths, including Jews and the first
Shinto high priest in history to be received there.
He was also well known for his wit and charm. At an Italian prison, he told the inmates “Since you could not come to me, I came to you.” To a
communist diplomat, he said “I know you are an
atheist, but won't you accept an old man's blessing?” And when a reporter asked how many people worked at the Vatican, he replied, “Oh, no more than half of them.”
John died of
cancer after the first session of Vatican II and many wanted the council to acclaim John a
saint, avoiding the lengthy canonization procedure. Conservative elements objected to this, and Pope
Paul VI announced a compromise, initiating canonization procedures for both John XXIII and his predecessor,
Pius XII, a pontiff beloved by conservatives. John was
beatified by
John Paul II in
2000, but his canonization is in doubt despite his intense popularity because the conservative elements in the church see him as a symbol of liberalism.
Editors Note:
On Sunday, 27 April 2014, John XXIII and Pope John Paul II were declared saints on Divine Mercy Sunday.