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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 1963)
Peasants Son, Catholic Leader, Was man R if U il it... V4T r i riT He began his first days as pontiff J vvm C,ITY - Pope following the tradition that the Jonn XXIII, the Italian peasant's Pope should cat alone, son who became leader of half at That did not suit his tempera Dinion Catholics around the world, ment and he soon began inviting ...,. ,lmny surprises. " lenos. riiey want me to eat by If w jam m He was a rotund old man, whn -'By features, ready smile and outgoing warmth inspired conli dence and faith. Above all he was human, a man close to the earth who knew people - both their gooa and their faults. Pope John learned the harder side of life as he grew up on the land his fatlier worked for an other man as a sharecropper And as a Vatican diplomat he be came experienced in a different kind of life, international politics and all its ramifications. His friendly, open personality stood out even more pronounced against that of his predeces sor, the austere, intellectual Pius XII. According to many, John was to have been an "interim" Pope a pontitt iwno bridged tlie gap be tween the l!-year reign of Pius XII and the election of a younger man. But an "interim" Pope lie defi nitely w as not. Nut Another Name The name of Pope John XXIII will not go down in history as just another in a list of 262 popes that began with St. Peter. From al most the moment of his election in the evening of Oct. 28, 1958. the new pontiff showed forceful personality and firm grasp of his responsibilities. During his pontificate Pope John called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, the first such gathering in 92 years and the 21st in Catholic church history. He is sued the encyclical "Mater ct .Magistra, an important docu ment on social and labor prob lems. And on April 10. 1963, he issued an encyclical hailed as one of the most important papal documents of modern times. It was "Paccm and Terris" i Peace on Earth , an appeal to "all men of good will" to work through strength ened international organizations for a peace based on justice and liberty for everyone. Received Balzan Prize The encyclical w as tlie capstone of the Pope's constant work for peace w hich two months later had brought about his selection for the 1963 Balzan International Foundations Peace Prize. The issuance of the encyclical also coincided with an initiative by the Pope to bring about the release of prelates imprisoned be hind the Iron Curtain and to ob tain greater freedom generally for the church in Communist lands. As part of this effort, the Pope received Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's son-in-law and daughter, Ale.xei I. Adzhubci and his wife Rada, in an unprece dented audience on March 7, 19W3. myself," he said shortly after his eluding a 400 mile round trip he took to the shrines of Loreto and Assisi to pray for tlie success of the Ecumenical Council less than a month before it opened on Oct. 11, 1962. He even visited the Regina election. I tried it for one weekiCoeli Jail in -the heart nf Rnn. and I wasn't comfortable. Then II the day after Christmas, 1958. As searched through tile Sacredlhe white-clad figure gave his t 1 VI 1 1 Yr. 'I At h- hi., rteimui TO SHARE DUTIES Four Cardinals who will share most of ths burden of running church affairs until the election of a new Pope are shown here. They are, top row, left to right, Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, dean of the Sacred College; Aloisi Cardinal Massella, camerlengo (chamber tain) of the Holy Roman Church who took control of the Vatican when Pope John XXIII died; bottom row, same order, Jaime Cardinal Copello, and Alfredo Cardi nal Ottoviani, head of the Holy Office. UPI Telephoto Scripture for something saying I had to cat alone. "I found nothing, so I gave it up and it's much better now." Eliminates tMuch Kneeling He ruled that the people work ing closely with him need not kneel and kiss his ring every time they came in his presence, but only during their first and last visits of the day. It saved time. he said. As the years of his reign con tinued, so did Pope John's sur prises, lie quickly broke the an- p ent trfldilinn spt hv Pnnp SiyIhe V on Dec. 3. IMS, that there be only 70 cardinals, following the example of the 70 ciders of Moses. Pope John raised the Sacred College to 75 members, and then to 85. Its high was 85 members, plus three cardinals tlie pontiff named "in pectore" in his breast. He never revealed the On the pages of historv, such! names of these cai-dinuls, as was things will mark the pontiff. But for those who lived during his time be probably will be more blessing to the prisoners in their cells, both the guards and Vie men serving their sentences w ept openly. Did Not Fear Death Pope John enjoyed life but he did not fear death. After his election he spoke sev eral times about tlie inevitable end for all men. "I am always ready to move over to the other shore," he said. Another time the pontiff serenely told a group during an audience that "I have great confidence in the future, but I am ready to go even tonight. I place all my con fidence in the hands of the Lord and I feel well in doing so and his wife Marianna Mazzola Roncalli. He was survived by three broth ers and a sister. They are Sa- verio. 79, Alfredo. 73 and Giu seppe. 68, all of whom still live at Sotlo il Monte, and Assunta, 65, who lives at Sesto San Giovanni near Milan. Also surviving were 18 nephews and nieces. He grew up in a house of square cut stones covered with grapevines room window he could see the green valley below and the hillside sloping down the River Adda. Tilled the Soil As he grew older he did his share of the work like his brothers and sisters. He helped gather wood and helped his father in the fields. To till tlie soil was his apparent destiny in life. But at the age of 11 little An gelo announced that he wanted to become a priest. His parents,, both religious people in a religious area of Italy, gave their blessing. He entered the seminary at Bergamo, where he studied for the eight years from 1892 to 1900. He was a good but not exceptional student. From there he went to Rome to study at the Pontifical Seiminary. He received a laureate in theology and w as ordained a priest in the Church of Santa Maria in Monte Santo on Aug. 10, 1904. that same jycar he officiated at his first Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Father Roncalli's first job was as personal secretary of Msgr. Giacomo Count Radini-Tedeschi, the bishop of Bergamo. The count had a strong influence on the young priest, as did tlie fact that Bergamo w as an extremely Cath olic area. Research Enthusiast During the nine years he silent with Msgr. Radini-Tedeschi, Fa ther Roncalli started what were regarded as daring innovations at that time, such as publishing a parish news bulletin. He also taught at the local seminary and organized Catholic action groups. Always a historical research en thusiast, the young priest spent a good deal of time at the Ambro- siuna Library in Milan and dis covered 40 huge, handwritten vol umes describing a visit by the 16th Century saint. Charles Borromeo, to the archdiocese of Bergamo. The dust-covered volumes gavel a living account of Roncalli's na tive region as it was four cen turies before. He never lost his interest in the subject and between 1936 and 1952 published five vol umes considered a model of his torical research. When World War I came Ron calli was drafted into tlie Italian armv. He served a year as Medical Corps sergeant and than as an army chaplain with the rank active role In the Catholic Action ernment of Marshal Philippe Pe- movement, which brought him to the attention of Pope Benedict XV. Roncalli became a monsigngr and was called to Rome by the pontiff to play a leading role in the reor ganization of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith a lay organization supporting mission ary activities. He became presi dent of the Italian branch. Starts Diplomatic Work During the period from 1921 to 1925 his visits to European Catho lic centers for missionary work helped prepare him for his long diplomatic service. In 1925 under Pope Pius XII he began his 27 years in the Vatican Secretariat of State. He was named titular archbishop of Aeropolis and wa1 appointed as apostolic visitor to Bulgaria. Msgr. Roncalli, then 43. was to spend 10 years in Bulgaria, a country which fell to communism at the end of World War II. Dur ing the long period he spent there. he learned the language and mixed well. In 1935, he was promoted to the twin posts of apostolic vicar and delegate to Turkey and apostolic delegate to Greece, with headquar ters in Istanbul. He served their for nine years, during the ardu ous years of World War II, Esteem for him was so great that in December. 1944, Pope Piusir XII picked him for one of tlie most difficult assignments in Vatican history apostolic nuncio to Paris. Relations between the Vatican and the French government of Gen. Charles de Gaulle had become strained because the Holy See had sent a nuncio to the N'azi-dominat- cd Vichy government during tlie German occupation of France. Thought It Error The story goes that when he received the appointment cable Msgr. Roncalli was 60 surprised that he thought he must have made an error in decoding t h c telegram. When he arrived at the Vati can on his way to Paris, he had only one question to ask pro-secre tary of state, Msgr. Domcnico Tardini "Do you know what you are going? I'm not fit for that post." Tardini. later to become a car dinal and secretary of state under tain But Roncalli conquered the French from the start. He had wit, humor, and he knew how to use a well served meal as a political gambit. As papal nuncio he auto matically was the dean of the dip lomatic corps in Paris. r ft SUCCESSOR TO POPE Often mentioned as pos sible successors to Pope John XXIII are Giovanni Urbani, top, shown in 1958 photo, and Giacomo Cardi nal Lercaro, bottom, alio 1958 photo. Urbani is 63 years old and Lercaro, 71. of lieutenant. At the end of the from peasant s son to the spin-1 war founded Italy's first "stu tual leader of the largest religion, j.... home" for assistance to in the world was a long road. ' middle class students in public Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli was L - i born on Nov. 25. 1881. in his par- falier Roncalli also played an enls home in Sotto H Monte 'un der the Mountain i, a little village near Bersamo in northern Italy. his right, and the secret of who He was the third of 13 children they were died w ith him. three of whom died at birth and In the 59 years between the uni- edeS son of Giovanni Battista noted for his tradition breaking fication of Italy in 1670 and the Roncalli, a i-harecroppcr whose ways if he felt tradition need ed to be broken for the good of the church or if it had become outdated in the space age. In some cases he reinstated tradi- acre stale, lion that had fallen into disuse But Pope John went out of the Over the centuries. (Vatican some 150 times, both for Many of the changes he brought I short visits in tlie city cf Rome about were little, personal things. I itself and others farther away, in- Latcran Pact in 1929 the popes! family had tilled tile soil for years lived as sett-exiled prisoners o! the Vatican." Even after 1929 fol lowing popes seldom left Hie 108- DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE Inquire At GUN STORE 714 Main Farmers! Loggers! Bulk Gasoline Competitive Prices and S&H Green Stamps TANKS AVAILABLE CliffYaden's SERVICE 2b60 So. 6th TU 4-3681 OPEN 24 HOURS Pope John, replied that "My dear fellow, be sure that not one of us had thought of it." This meant that it was the Pope's personal will. Msgr. Roncalli arrived in Paris on New Year's Day, 1945, to hand Dc Gaulle his credentials. His pre decessor, Valcrio Cardinal Valeri. had to leave France because ol his relations with the Vichy gnv- he was seen regularly at official and social events. Thought 11 Error Tlie story goes that when he received the appointment cable Msgr. Roncalli was so surprised that he thought he must have made an, error in decoding the telegram. And when he arrived at the Vatican on his way to Paris, he had only one question to ask pro-secretary of stale, Msgr. Do mcnico Tardini "Do you know what you arc doing? I'm not fit lor that post. Tardini, later to become a car dinal and secretary of state under Pope John, replied that "My dear fellow, be sure that no one of us had thought of it." This meant that it was tlie Pope's personal will. Msgr. Roncalli arrived in Paris on New Year's Day, 1945, to hand De Gaulle his credentials. His pre- As such' accessor, Valcrio Cardinal Valeri, had to leave France because oi his relations with the Vichy gov ernment of Marshal Philippe Pc tain. But Roncalli conquered the French from the start, He had wit, humor, and he knew how to use a well served meal as a political gambit. As papal nuncio he auto matically was the dean of the dip lomatic corps in Paris. As such he was seen regularly at official and social events. In 1952 he also was made per manent observer from t h e Holy Sec to UNESCO, Jan. 12, 1953, Pope Pius XII named Roncalli a cardinal. Ac cording to the traditional proced ure lor nuncios to Catholic coun tries, the symbolic red birctta hat was placed on his head by the president. Vincent Auriol. Aur lol claimed the right to do it de spite tlie fact he was a socialist. Three days later, the Pope named Roncalli patriarch of Ven ice, replacing Msgr. Carlo Agos tini who had died. ' Here 1 have a new chance to be entirely a pastor," said the new patriarch of the City of Ca nals. "I am convinced that the ministry of the pastor is the most fascinating, the finest that a man can be offered in his life." 1 At Home In Venice 1 Cardinal Roncalli was at home in Venice. He devoted himself to pastoral work, visiting prisoners in jail, patients in hospitals and old people in their homes. When the sea used to flood the little side street on famed St. Mark's Square where the patri archy faced, Roncalli used to go through the back door of a small beer hall which had a second en trance on an unllooded street. He always had a wave and a smile for the occupants of the beer hall. Then, after a lingering illness, Pope Pius XII died on Oct. 9, 1958. Roncalli was one of 51 cardinals who gathered in Rome for the iu neral and then the conclave. So certain was lie of his sparse chances of election, he hid a round-trip ticket home. When the doors to the frescoed Sistine Chap el and the conclave area closed behind the cardinals on Oct. 25, Cardinal Roncalli was given a small apartment to live in. On the wall of the small bedroom was a prophetic plaque which read: . "II comandante" the commander. It was the former room of a Swiss guardsman. Three days and 12 votes later Roncalli appeared on the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square for tlie first time as Pope. He an nounced he had taken the name Giovanni Jolin that itself a surprise because the name had not been used by a Pope since 1334, although an anti-pope car ried the name of John XXIII in 1415. His Father's Name One of the main reasons for taking the name of John was be cause that was his father's name, he later said. At that time Pope John was nearing his 77th birthday, one of flic facts that led him to be re garded as a "compromise" or rises "interim" pope. He was crowned pontiff to tlie cheers of 300,000 faithful in St. Peter's Square a week later, on Nov. 4, 1958. Probably John's first action as pontiff had come during the se cret conclave itself when his elec tion was announced. He took off his cardinal's skull cp and placed it on the head of Msgr. Alberto di Jorio, secretary of the conclave. It meant that Di Jono would be named a cardinal. In fact, Di Jorio and 22 others including Tardini became , cardinals six weeks after Pope' : John was elected. 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