‘The good pope’: John XXIII and the ways he changed the Church

 

When he was elected a month shy from his 77th birthday, many thought Angelo Giuseppe Cardinal Roncalli, patriarch of Venice in Italy, would not keep the highest seat in the Roman Catholic Church for long.

 

Thirteen years older than his predecessor, Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII), when the latter began his 19-year pontificate in 1939, Roncalli was regarded “as a transitional pope.” In many ways he was different to Pacelli—whereas the latter was a “lean six-footer,” Roncalli was “plump, if not fat,” at 205 pounds. And he smoked cigarettes twice a day—the first pope to do so.

 

Roncalli chose the name John, “in honor of the precursor and the beloved disciple,” one that was taken by “a long line of popes whose pontificates had been short,” according to the Vatican website. The last time it was used was in the 1300s.

 

He did not live long enough to prove this wrong—the length of his papacy was below average, lasting only four years, seven months, and six days. But Roncalli’s was a quiet legacy that still resounds in the everyday workings of the church and its traditions today.

 

Known as the "good pope,” John XXIII will be named saint on Sunday, April 27 after Pope Francis waived the customary rules requiring a second miracle after beatification.

 

The only miracle credited to John XXIII was the healing of Sister Caterina Capitani in 1966.

 

The Italian nun, who suffered from severe bleeding and infection after an operation to remove a cancerous tumor in her stomach, was said to have roused from her deathbed after praying to John XXIII and seeing him by her side.

 

Vatican expert Marco Tosatti said the move showed that Francis “wanted to make someone he really likes a saint.”

 

John XXIII was beatified in 2000 by Blessed John Paul II, who will be canonized alongside him on April 27.

 

Vatican experts say that the double canonization shows "political flair" by Pope Francis but it remains to be seen whether his efforts to unite Catholicism pay off, Agence France-Press reported. 

 

The double sainthood is seen by Vatican watchers as an attempt to breach a traditional left-right divide in the Church, according to another AFP report. 
 

"John XXIII is generally a hero to the church's progressive wing while John Paul II is typically lionized by Catholic conservatives," said John Allen, from the National Catholic Reporter, a US weekly.

 

Reforms, Vatican II

 

Admired because he was “simple and active,” John XXIII’s papacy was defined by carrying out “Christian duties” including visiting the imprisoned and the sick, as well as widening the Church’s horizons—from a simple request to only be referred to as “the Pope” in write-ups, to making sure that every side of the world was represented in the College of Cardinals, appointing its first members from Japan, Africa, and even the Philippines, in the person of Rufino Cardinal Santos, former archbishop of Manila.

 

But his biggest contribution to the Roman Catholic Church was summoning the first ecumenical cycle in nearly a century.

 

Barely three months into being pope, John XXIII “shocked the world” when he announced the creation of the Second Vatican Council (or Vatican II) in January 1959.

 

The council, made in the aftermath of the Second World War, was composed of 2,000 to 2,500 bishops “and thousands of observers, auditors, sisters, laymen, and laywomen.” During four sessions between 1962 and 1965, it produced 16 documents that are considered the foundation “for the church as we know it today.”

 

“Prior to this time, the church had been almost seen as a fortress, very much concerned about its own internal stability and integrity and engaging the world in terms of missionary activity,” Peter A. Huff of Xavier University told NPR. “Pope John wanted to reinforce that missionary mandate, but he also wanted to create an environment of dialogue, where the church would engage in all the forces of the modern world.”

 

The endeavor included reforms on revising canon law to keep up with the times, as well as the use of vernacular language for sacraments instead of the traditional Latin. Significant changes in officiating Mass were also included, with the priest facing the congregation instead of the altar.

 

Humble beginnings

 

John XXIII, however, was not around to witness the completion of what became his papal legacy, succumbing to stomach cancer in 1963, before the second session of the council.

 

Despite this, he lived long enough to prove observers who said during the infancy of his papacy that the archbishop with “a homely face… constantly lighted by a broad, friendly smile” was “a man who almost certainly will be loved.”

 

His belief that the Church was “a garden to be cultivated” could be attributed to his humble beginnings.

 

Born on November 25, 1881 to a family of sharecroppers, Roncalli was raised in the town of Sotto Il Monte in the northern province of Bergamo, which was known “for their wit and joviality” —the same qualities that were liked of him.

 

He entered the seminary of Bergamo at an early age, a report on GMA News TV’s “Balitanghali” said. Years later, he would spend nearly a decade teaching there, as well as secretary to the bishop of Bergamo.

 

During the First World War, he became a medic and chaplain for the Italian army, after which he served at the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He eventually became Vatican’s representative to different countries in Europe, including Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and France, where he was nuncio for eight years.

 

Roncalli became a cardinal in 1953, and was named patriarch of Venice. Five years later, he was elected to the highest seat in Vatican, where he carried on his simple ways.

 

“He came off like a country pastor, you know? I mean, if you didn’t know he was the pope, you would assume he was the parish priest from down the block,” said veteran Vatican reporter John Allen Jr. “He had a simple, down-to-earth, populist [disposition] ... [He was] accessible, very simple in some ways." —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KG, GMA News