By CAROLE BRESLIN
Part 2
As we saw in part 1, the ecclesiastical career of Angelo Roncalli up until 1953 had already shown him to be a man dedicated to the Church. Frequently he had to serve the Church despite family tragedies. Wherever the Church asked him to go, he went obediently without complaint. Despite the many persecutions, sacrifices, and sufferings, he carried out his responsibilities without hesitation or complaint.
From 1944 until 1953, Roncalli resided in France as the apostolic nuncio. He also served as the permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In 1951 and 1952 he addressed the sixth and seventh general assemblies of UNESCO.
Then he was recalled to Rome where he learned that he would be assigned to Venice. There, he would be named a cardinal. Before he left France, however, he received one of the highest honors of the French people.
President Vincent Auriol claimed an ancient privilege allowing the French monarch to bestow the red biretta on Roncalli. The ceremony took place at the Élysée Palace. Roncalli then designed his coat of arms: the lion of St. Mark on a white ground. And thus, Angelo Roncalli, having grown to love France and her people, left to take up his assigned post in Venice.
When he arrived at the residence for the cardinal, he refused to use the space of the ground floor, a space that had been used by Pope Pius X when he lived there as a cardinal. Pope Pius X was canonized 18 months later and his quarters were then reserved as a sacred pilgrimage.
During his years in Venice, the future Pope, Angelo, lost his sister to cancer. He had learned of her cancer and planned to visit her, but she succumbed to the disease so quickly that she died before he reached her bedside. Nevertheless, he did make it back to Bergamo to celebrate her funeral Mass. Once again the duties of his service to the Church kept him from the bedside of a loved one.
Later he called a synod for his diocese and at its completion he sat editing the results in the Synodal Acts when once again he learned a Pope had died. On October 9, 1958 Pope Pius XII passed away, so Angelo left for Rome to participate in the conclave.
On October 25, 1958 the conclave opened in the Sistine Chapel and went to 11 ballots. It was not until October 28 that Angelo was elected to be the next Pope. There were many candidates but there was no favorite as there had been when the previous Pope had been elected.
Because of his age — 76 years old at the time of his election — the College of Cardinals and other “experts” did not expect that his pontificate would accomplish much. In fact most believed he would be a transitional Pope.
After his election, however, his decisiveness as well as his fearlessness became evident. Immediately he surprised many by taking the name of John XXIII. He chose that name because it was the name of his home parish, as well as of many cathedrals. He further explained, “We love the name of John because it reminds us of John the Baptist…and the other John, the disciple and evangelist.”
He took the number XXIII which itself was controversial. Pope John XXII, a Frenchman and one of the Avignon Popes, had a bad reputation for immoral behavior as well as a view of the Beatific Vision not in line with Church teaching — this view he recanted before his death. In addition, he also confirmed the antipapal status of the anti-Pope John XXIII.
On November 4, 1958, the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, at the central loggia of the Vatican, the new Pope’s coronation took place. The ceremony took five hours — the normal time — and he received the 1877 Palatine Tiara.
Just 41 days later he held his first consistory, a council of the cardinals, during which he named several men to become cardinals. One of these men, Giovanni Battista Montini, would be become the next Pope, Pope Paul VI.
On Christmas that year he made several pastoral visits around Rome which gained much attention from the media. This was the first time in nearly 100 years that such visits had been made. First he visited the children’s hospital at Bambino Gesù Hospital where those with polio were cared for. Then he went to the Santo Spirito Hospital after which he visited the Regina Coeli prison where he lovingly told the inmates, “You could not come to me so I came to you.” Not that he used the first person singular pronoun, I, rather than the more formal customary plural form of “We.”
Pope John XXIII, crowded in by photographers, journalists, and authorities felt as though he too were a prisoner. And just as the pastoral visits of Pope Francis have been greatly sensationalized, so were the trips of Pope John XXIII.
Nevertheless, he continued to make these trips of love and mercy until his death. He was a country boy, a man descended from farmers who loved to be out in the open. Hence, when most people in Rome and in the Vatican City were in bed, the Pope would rise and wander the streets at midnight. These walks were not unnoticed and he soon received the nickname “Johnnie Walker.”
During the four years of his pontificate he convened the Second Vatican Council, which called for the laity to become more involved in the work of evangelization. Although he did not live to see the close of the council, he did live to see the men involved, one of whom was the future Pope John Paul II from Poland. He also issued a new Roman Missal.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, John XXIII contacted both Kennedy and Khrushchev, seeking to bring peace and an end to the Cold War. For this Time Magazine named him Man of the Year, the first Pope to receive the honor. President Johnson awarded Pope John XXIII the Medal of Freedom for this work after the Pope’s death.
On September 23, 1962, the Pope was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He continued his work as Pope, making public appearances and monitoring the progress of the council. Finally, on June 3, 1963, his last hours came. As he was receiving the Last Rites, as they were known at the time, the priest faltered at which time the Pope instructed the priest how to complete the sacrament. As the sun dropped below the horizon, the Pope died.
His feast day is October 11.
Dear Pope St. John XXIII, you knew well the troubled times in which you lived and sought to save souls from many different evils. May we follow God’s will as faithfully as you did and seek ways to minister to all, both physically and spiritually. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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