During his tenure as archbishop, Roncalli saved thousands of Jews, enough that he was named a "Righteous Gentile" following the war.
In late , the Church was anxious to remove clergy in France that had collaborated with the Nazis in various forms. Roncalli was appointed as the new papal Nuncio and sent to France to negotiate the retirement of bishops who were involved with the Nazis.
In , Roncalli was offered a new position, this time as Patriarch of Venice. He assumed his new responsibilities on March 15, Roncalli's papal predecessor died on October 9, and he was soon summoned to Rome where he was to participate in the process of selecting a new pope.
The College eventually settled on Roncalli for election and he accepted, saying "I will be called John," a surprising choice because of that name's association with schism. On Christmas, , he resumed the papal practice of making visits to the community within the official Diocese of Rome. He visited the sick, the poor, and prisoners. He apologized for episodes of anti-Semitism within the Church carried on by some of his predecessors.
It was originally expected that Pope John XXIII would only serve a short time before passing away and that he would make no significant changes to Church practice. Perhaps his most influential decision was the call for an ecumenical council which would be known as Vatican II.
As a result of this council, many practices of the classic Church would be altered with a new emphasis on ecumenism and a new liturgy. He prohibited the use of contraceptives which interfere with the procreative will of God. He upheld the traditional view that married couples may not divorce. He also moved to protect the Church from scandal, ordering confidentiality when dealing with matters of clergy accused of the sexual abuse of children.
How his request to the bishops of his time was interpreted remains subject to debate. It must be determined in accordance with justice and equity; which means that workers must be paid a wage which allows them to live a truly human life and to fulfill their family obligations in a worthy manner.
Certainly, Venerable Brethren, when one views the faith which distinguishes the Church, the sacraments which nourish and perfect her, the universal laws and precepts which govern her, the unfailing glory that is hers by reason of the heroic virtue and constancy of so many of her elect, there can be no doubt that the Bride of Christ, so dear to her divine Redeemer, has always kept herself holy and unsullied.
It must give louder and louder utterance to that "word by which the kingdom is preached" mentioned in the parable of the sower, and help to bring about the wider extension of "the kingdom of God" in the world. But all this must depend to a large extent on the dispositions of the souls which the Council will be endeavoring to inspire to truth and virtue, to the worship of God both in private and in public, to a disciplined life and to missionary zeal.
The Ecumenical Council will surely be, even more than a new and magnificent Pentecost, a real and new Epiphany, one of the many revelations which have been renewed and are continually being renewed in the course of history, but one of the greatest of all. Born poor, but of humble and respected folk, I am particularly happy to die poor, having distributed, according to the various needs and circumstances of my simple and modest life in the service of the poor and of the holy Church which has nurtured me, whatever came into my hands —and it was very little —during the years of my priesthood and episcopate.
In the hour of farewell, or, better, of leave-taking, I repeat once more that what matters most in this life is: our blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, and in the Gospel above all else the Our Father according to the mind and heart of Jesus, and the truth and goodness of his Gospel, goodness which must be meek and kind, hardworking and patient, unconquerable and victorious. This is the rosary of Mary, considered in its various elements, which are linked together in vocal prayer and woven into it as in a delicate and rich embroidery, full of spiritual warmth and beauty.
Pope John met with them on a number of occasions and—as with everyone else—completely won them over by his warmth, simplicity, and openness of manner. In December he received at the Vatican the archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Francis Fisher—the first meeting ever held between a Roman pope and an Anglican primate. A year later, in November , history was made again when for the first time the Catholic Church was represented at a meeting of the World Council of Churches: Bea's office sent five official priestobservers to the Third General Assembly in New Delhi.
Pope John's ecumenical efforts, however, were not confined to Protestantism. Catholic theologians met with members of the Orthodox Church for discussions at Rhodes in August , and the Holy See sent envoys to Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople in June And he showed equal consideration to those of the Jewish faith: one of his acts, seemingly trivial but actually bearing immense significance, was his directive to remove from the centuries-old Good Friday liturgy its reference to the "perfidious Jews.
Pope John issued eight encyclicals during his reign, and at lest two deserve to be ranked with the most important documents of Church history. Among other things, the Pontiff pointed out the right that all classes have to benefit from technological advances and stressed the obligation of large and wealthy nations to assist underdeveloped ones.
It was perhaps natural that the son of a poor farming family should lay special emphasis on the necessity for improved agricultural methods in still backward countries. Pacem in terris was unique among papal encyclicals in being the first one ever addressed not just to Catholics but " to all men of good will. He pleaded for the banning of nuclear weapons and an end to the arms race.
Pointing out that the problems of modern times could not be solved unilaterally, he expressed hope that the United Nations would prove an ever more effective instrument for mutual cooperation among nations and for the preservation of world peace. John XXIII, the son of simple Italian peasants, never lost either the simplicity or the humility that were part of his origins. It was precisely these qualities, indeed, that made him so unique in his times.
Unlike his predecessor and successor, he was not a scholar or a theologian though he was a highly cultured man with a profound knowledge of history, a love for literature, art, and music, and a fluency in many languages ; but he had an intuitive understanding of people and problems that enabled him to deal with them in way that scholars perhaps could not have done.
It is no exaggeration but a literal truth to say that he loved everyone, and that this in turn caused everyone to love him. In an age largely given over to secularism, he not only increased the prestige of the papacy but also restored the importance and relevance of religion to a degree that few would have thought possible.
By concentrating on what unites men rather than on what divides them, he took the first steps toward the eventual unity of all Christians. When he was elected, many thought that his pontificate would be a transitional one, and in a sense this was true. The transition, however, was not merely from one pope to another, but also and especially from an old to a new era of religious history.
Other works on him are Francis X. Hales, Pope John and His Revolution Bonnot, Bernard R. All rights reserved. Diplomatic Career This was the beginning of a diplomatic career which was to last for almost 30 years and take Roncalli to many European countries.
Also, practices can change over time within the same community. At one point receiving a new name may have been the practice, but later retaining the baptismal name becomes the norm, or vice versa. In those communities in which receiving a new name is the practice, the means by which this happens can vary. Sometimes the new member of the community has some say in what his or her new name will be for example, by submitting three potential names to the head of their community , and in other communities, it is left up to the leader of the community.
What about popes? As mentioned, while there are commonalities as we will see, there are also differences.
0コメント