Pope John XXIII: The Good Pope (5 page)

For two millennia the Church had done much to ensure that Jews suffered and then attributed this suffering to God’s just retribution. The imagery of “abject Judea” was rife within pre-modern Europe. For a Church steeped in triumphalism, the reemergence of Israel as a political entity was an awkward fact that was best ignored.

Now, however, Pope John signaled a thawing of relations between the Vatican and the Jewish people, and he did so very early in his tenure. Israeli President Yitzchak Ben Zvi was included among the heads of state to whom papal letters of accession were sent by this newly elected pope. This is in marked contrast to John’s friend and successor, Paul VI, who, when making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964, would refuse to address the Israeli president (Zalman Shazar) by his title.

With the revelations about the fate of Europe’s Jews that came in the wake of WWII, there were sporadic, localized attempts by Church figures to address the Church’s role through its teaching of contempt. In 1949 Pius XII had in a limited way addressed the use of
pro perfidis Judaeis
in the Good Friday prayer for the Jews by allowing the phrase to be translated in its actual meaning of “unfaithful” or “unbelieving” instead of the even more insidious translation of “perfidious,” which was how it had usually been translated. John XXIII very quickly, in 1959, eliminated the word altogether along with harsh statements in two other prayers: the Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart and the baptism of converts ritual. In place of the long-standing but dubious invocation to pray for the
perfidis Judaeis
, he instituted a genuinely benevolent petition asking that Jews remain faithful to their covenant and continue to love God’s name. He further ordered an end to pilgrimage to a shrine in Daggendorf, Bavaria, where thousands converged annually to celebrate the 1338 massacre of the town's Jewish community.

It was Vatican II, however, that provided an organized forum for working out policy towards Jews and other non-Catholics, including Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and non-Catholic Christians. Historically, preparations for the council occurred concurrently with the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem (1961). Adolph Eichmann was considered to be the architect of Hitler’s “Final Solution,” and media coverage of his 14-week trial brought to the public ongoing, horrific, and vivid testimony about the inhumanity that had occurred only a few years earlier. While some Catholics preferred to focus on the extent to which Catholics had rendered aid to Jews, others were engaged in intense soul-searching about the history of Catholic animosity (and Christian animosity in general) toward Jews that had helped give rise to modern anti-Semitism.

Accordingly,
Nostra Aetate
may be the most notable document to emerge from Vatican II, albeit after John’s death, because it altered Catholic perceptions of the Jewish people forever. Mindful of the “spiritual patrimony” shared by Christians and Jews, it overturned 2,000 years of Church history by stating:

“The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures{MISSING SYMBOL}Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”

These and other such statements resulted in a complete, systematic overhaul of Catholic textbooks and approaches to teaching about non-Catholics. Most importantly,
Nostra Aetate
removed the charge of deicide and caused this and other such historical distortions to be removed from Catholic liturgy and teachings. Under Pope Paul VI,
Nostra Aetate
was followed in January 1975 by
Guidelines for the Implementation of Nostra Aetate No. 4
. These guidelines were a further advance over
Nostra Aetate
because they referenced the Holocaust and also Judaism’s ongoing religious tradition beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. (Christianity has often treated Judaism as though its viability ended at that point.) The guidelines included other important points as well. What they still failed to acknowledge was the centrality of the land of Israel within Jewish belief.

Pope John had paved the way for
Nostra Aetate
by charging Cardinal Bea with the task of crafting a statement on Catholic–Jewish relations and seeking Jewish viewpoints about the subject. The door was thus opened for Catholic–Jewish engagement. Pope John fully supported Cardinal Bea’s activities in the face of intense religious opposition from conservative elements within the Church and politically motivated opposition from Arab governments outside it. Nevertheless, the “Declaration on the Jews” drafted by Cardinal Bea was shelved for the duration of Pope John’s lifetime. Pope John died only two months after the first session of Vatican II. The subject would be taken up again only thereafter.

In his will dated September 12, 1961, Pope John spoke confidently of “Sister Death.” Sadly, this sweet, loving man would not know an easy death, but there is no question that he would have dedicated his suffering to heaven and made it an atonement for his flock. In September 1962 Pope John was diagnosed with stomach cancer. There had been intermittent signs of illness during the preceding eight months. Now the diagnosis was kept from the public, but the pope grew increasingly wan while his public appearances diminished. His pain at times was excruciating.

Even while undergoing his final trial, Pope John helped eased the tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis when he offered to mediate between President Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the end of 1962. Both parties appreciated the gesture.

In January 1963, Pope John was
Time’s
Man of the Year because of his “New Pentecost” that was reorienting the Church towards the modern world.

Pope John made what would be his last public appearance on May 11, 1963, when Italian president Antonio Segni awarded him with the Balzan Prize for his work on behalf of peace. He attended despite being in tremendous pain. On May 25, he experienced hemorrhaging and received blood transfusions. The cancer, however, had perforated the stomach wall, causing peritonitis. The pope’s assistant, Loris Capovilla, told him that the cancer “had done its work,” and nothing could be done. The pope’s remaining siblings rallied around him.

On May 31, Pope John spoke what are considered his final words: “I had the great grace to be born into a Christian family, modest and poor, but with the fear of the Lord. My time on earth is drawing to a close. But Christ lives on and continues his work in the Church. Souls, souls, That they might all be one [
Ut omnes unum sint
].” The Papal Sacristan then performed the final unction but became so emotional that he forgot the correct order for anointing. The pope gently guided him. Pope John XXIII died at 7:49 p.m. Roman time on June 3, 1963, just as a mass for him was finishing below in Saint Peter’s Square below. He was 81 years old.

Pope John was proud of his peasant origins. At his death, he wanted the same honor as that which was bestowed on Pius X: that people could say of him he was born poor and died poor. He believed poverty to be the first duty of anyone following Jesus (“Letter of Pope John XXIII ‘Il Tempio Massimo’ to Women Religious,” July 2, 1962). Accordingly, when he bequeathed to his surviving family members the whole of his worldly wealth, it amounted to less than $20 apiece. He was buried beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. Two wreaths were lovingly donated by prisoners in Italian jails.

At the time Pope John was elected, another candidate had been the Archbishop of Milan, Giovanni Battista Montini. Archbishop Montini, however, had not yet been named a cardinal, and the College of Cardinals usually chose someone from among their own number. Upon his election, Pope John quickly rectified the situation; he elevated Montini to a cardinal only one month after he became pope. With the death of Pope John, Cardinal Montini became his successor, Pope Paul VI. He quickly affirmed that he would continue the process begun by Pope John.

John XXIII was nicknamed “The Good Pope” because of his humble, loving, and open character and his gracious sense of humor. In possessing those attributes, he is viewed by many to be similar to Pope Francis today. Like Pope Francis, Pope John was wont to stroll about Rome by night and make pastoral visits to sick children and prison inmates. John’s secretary, the Italian prelate Loris Capovilla, heard the news from Pope Francis himself and remarked how appropriate it was for the step to be taken by
“the successor
most similar” to John. “He reminds me in every way of John XXIII: in his gestures, in his attention to the poor…He has the same humility and mildness of heart as John XXIII, who was a wise and enlightened father who spoke to the human family that is torn apart by opposing interests and by senseless and sometimes implacable dislikes.”

The crowning feature of John’s papacy was his calling the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) into existence. The Council would revise the Church’s rituals and doctrines, reach out to other faiths in dialogue and good will, and raise the status of lay people. Pope Francis has explained the significance of Vatican II in this way: “Vatican II was a re-reading of the gospel in light of contemporary culture{MISSING SYMBOL}[It] produced a renewal movement that simply comes from the same gospel. Its fruits are enormous. Just recall the liturgy. The work of liturgical reform has been a service to the people as a re-reading of the gospel from a concrete historical situation.”

Shortly before Pope John’s death, the International Balzan Foundation, which is headquartered in Milan and Zurich, awarded Pope John its Peace Prize. Then, in December 1963, President Lyndon Johnson posthumously awarded him the United States’ Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.

Pope John XXIII was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000 with one miracle to his credit, the case of an Italian nun with hemorrhaging. His body was then moved from its original burial place in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica to near the main altar. His feast date is October 11 to commemorate the opening of Vatican II.

The canonization of Pope John XXIII was announced by Pope Francis shortly after the fiftieth anniversary of John’s death. The date for canonization has been set for April 27, 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter. It will occur together with that of Pope John Paul II, the first time that two people have been canonized together. This is fitting because of the way the two figures bracket the process of Vatican II; if John inaugurated Vatican II, John Paul was both a product and a proponent of that process. By canonizing both simultaneously, it is believed the Vatican wants to highlight the unity of the process despite any perceived differences between John’s supposed liberalism and John Paul’s conservatism. The date for the occasion was originally scheduled for December 8; however, the Polish bishops complained that it would be difficult for many Poles to attend at the time because of inclement winter conditions.

It is unusual for canonization to occur with only one miracle in place; however, Pope Francis has called witness to John’s “heroic virtue” as the basis for moving forward with canonization. There may also have been a popular clamor among the participants in Vatican II for the canonization to occur.

And, after all, the canonization ceremony is only a recognition and confirmation of what has already been decided at the divine level.

Pope John XXIII said, “The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire world.” In fact, Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary.  He prayed 15 decades daily.

Like Pope John XXIII, and Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis has stressed the importance of the rosary.

In a September 2013 interview, Pope Francis discussed his daily prayers, stating, “I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day.”

A month earlier, at the Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis urged Catholics to pray the rosary, “Mary joins us, she fights at our side. She supports Christians in the fight against the forces of evil. Especially through prayer, through the rosary. Hear me out, the rosary... Do you pray the Rosary each day? I don't know, are you sure? There we go!”

As a child, I remember seeing my grandmother pray the rosary. I remember thinking that the practice was odd, even frightening to watch. Often we are afraid of things that we do not understand, and I have since learned that the tradition of praying the rosary is quite beautiful. I hope the following chapter provides both instruction and reference for practicing Catholics, and a deeper understanding for those of different religions. The following chapter explains in detail the traditions of praying the rosary, a tradition that Pope Francis holds dear.