Pope John XXIII

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William_II

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What is your impression of Pope John XXIII? Do you like or dislike him?
 
I loved him and so many others did too. He was such a humble man, and so kind…It is a pity he was with us so briefly, as pope
 
I kept a scrapbook of anything I found published about him, and all his wonderful warm humanity that showed in little human encounters and wise words with those whom he encountered.
 
William_II said:
What is your impression of Pope John XXIII? Do you like or dislike him?
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I loved him very very much and still do.
He was a perfect reminder to all that we should not count the elderly as “out.”

It’s said he was chosen as “place-holder” Pope by the Cardinals. If so, they never knew how the inspiration of the Holy Spiirt and the grace of office would change him and the Church.

PS - I also liked him and admired him to an enormous extent.

I still do.
 
William_II said:
What is your impression of Pope John XXIII? Do you like or dislike him?
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He’s probably one of the holiest and wisest men among those who have led the Church in the 20th century, right up there with St. Pius X and John Paul the Great.

What made his life exemplary was his simplicity, his love for the Church and his dedication to prayer.

As a Franciscan I’m proud to have had him as a member of our order. He truly captured the spirit of St. Francis for the modern world. He was dedicated to the poor, understood his role in the Church, lived according to the Gospels, was a man of deep prayer and personal penance, and more importantly saw Christ in everyone and allowed others to see Christ in him.

By the way, many people do not know that he was a consecrated Secular Franciscan and that he lived his private life according to the Rule of St. Francis and much of what he taught and practiced was inspired by his love for Francis of Assisi whom he trusted as his guide to immitate Christ. He greatest devotion of all was to those who suffered with Christ, regardless of who they were.

From his early days in Bergamo as Angelo Roncalli he demonstrated a great zeal for souls and a great love of poverty. He and John Paul II were the two poorest popes in the 20th century. After he died, they found that he owned nothing. There was nothing in his will except a few insignifican items. According to his autobriogaphy and other biographers, he would give away the small salary that he received as a priest and later as a bishop and a nuncio. He always wanted to retain the same simplicity and poverty with which he had grown up as a boy in Bergamo in immitation of the poor and crucified Christ, as he has promised to do when he promised to follow the Rule of St. Francis until death.

Finally, he was a man with a quick wit and a sense of humour, something that many Catholics on this forum often lack. He was able to laugh at himself, the Church and even some things that he found in scripture. In other words, he found God’s joy in all things.

Many of us wish that we could live a life so filled with hope and joy in such a troubled world as he did. He certainly grew up and lived through some of the most difficult times in modern history and never lost his childlike wonder and joy.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂

JR 🙂
 
Blessed John XXIII is one of my favourite Popes. He was a great, wise, and holy man. Although many may be suprised by this, John XXIII was traditional in his thinking and spirituality; he was not the liberal that some extremists try to say he was.

I also love this man because he convened the Second Vatican Council. I believe the Second Vatican Council will be vindicated in the future, when it is interpreted in accordance with Tradition.
 
Dempsey1919 said:
Blessed John XXIII is one of my favourite Popes. He was a great, wise, and holy man. Although many may be suprised by this, John XXIII was traditional in his thinking and spirituality; he was not the liberal that some extremists try to say he was.
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These are my exact sentiments. It really bugs me how certain revolutionaries have associated him with their kind of “movement.”
 
I did not know much about him until I read his autobiography ‘The Journal of a Soul’. I have learned much from Roncalli the man and much from John XXIII the Pope.

Of course even though I never knew him since I was born in 1971, I love him as I love all Popes in their divinely instituted position as successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ.
 
JReducation said:
By the way, many people do not know that he was a consecrated Secular Franciscan and that he lived his private life according to the Rule of St. Francis and much of what he taught and practiced was inspired by his love for Francis of Assisi whom he trusted as his guide to immitate Christ.
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Thank you. I never knew this about him until now.

I regard Pope John XXIII as “The Jolly Pope”. From what I’ve seen of him thus far, I like him a lot.
I also like a lot of the papal vestments and regalia that he implemented for a twentieth-century Pope. For example, he wore the papal tiara, the camauro, winter mozzeta, used the sedia gestatoria and flabellum, etc.

Fergal, you have mentioned “The Journal of a Soul”. I think I might read it some day. I recently purchased “On Conscience” by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
 
I also like a lot of the papal vestments and regalia that he implemented for a twentieth-century Pope. For example, he wore the papal tiara, the camauro, winter mozzeta, used the sedia gestatoria and flabellum, etc.
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It wasn’t so much that he “implemented” these vestments; he simply continued wearing the clothes that all previous Popes had worn. Pope Paul VI was the first pontiff to change the vestments and regalia of the Papacy, and John Paul II contiued what he started.

The last two Popes have not been so traditional in their dress and liturgical preferences but Pope Benedict is renewing the traditional norms of vestments and liturgy.

I tend to think that the last two Popes were the odd ones out in terms of vestment style, when you compare them to the previous Popes. Benedict XVI is far more conscious of continuity and he is bringing back many of the ancient vestments traditionally worn by the Popes such as the Papal slippers.
 
Dempsey1919 said:
Benedict XVI is far more conscious of continuity and he is bringing back many of the ancient vestments traditionally worn by the Popes such as the Papal slippers.
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Are the papal slippers separate from the red papal shoes, or are the two one in the same?
 
William_II said:
Thank you. I never knew this about him until now.

I regard Pope John XXIII as “The Jolly Pope”. From what I’ve seen of him thus far, I like him a lot.

I also like a lot of the papal vestments and regalia that he implemented for a twentieth-century Pope. For example, he wore the papal tiara, the camauro, winter mozzeta, used the sedia gestatoria and flabellum, etc.

Fergal, you have mentioned “The Journal of a Soul”. I think I might read it some day. I recently purchased “On Conscience” by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
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Hi again. I like your posts.
Now a few little historical points need clarification.

Regarding the sedia and such, Pope John XXII used these things just as his predecessors did. However it was Pope John XXIII who was first to disregard the use of the sedia, a tradition in place for all living memory until then. Here’s one report from a Franciscan website.

americancatholic.org/Messenger/Sep2000/feature1.asp

"His style differed greatly from his predecessor’s. Captivating the hearts of almost everyone, Pope John XXIII seemed to be uncomfortable “pontificating,” sometimes even forgetting to use the formal “we” in speeches. The things he did so naturally, like climbing down from the sedia gestatoria (the platform carrying his portable throne) to walk down the center aisle of St. Peter’s during the ceremonies opening the Council (October 11, 1962), shocked his many critics but made him precisely what he wanted to be: a bishop among bishops.

His humility and good humor were so evident that I seem to recall as well that he expressed personal distaste for adding his own considerable weight to the burden of the sedia for the men assigned to carry all. (Pope Pius XII was built along other dimensions - actually very much on the frail side.) I’ve looked for source for this bit of Papal humor but haven’t found it yet. The comment might even be in the Journal of A Soul. I recommend you read it ASAP. It’s a very BIG book and might be expensive but your library should be able to order it for you.
 
Are the papal slippers separate from the red papal shoes, or are the two one in the same?
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They’re different. The slippers are worn indoors and the shoes outdoors. I meant to say papal shoes in the above post, not slippers.
 
I’m not that big into papal clothing. I do like the preservation of the Dominican habit as the official dress of the Pope. I guess I like it because it’s represents humility.

Prior to St. Pius V popes wore very colourful robes. But Pius V was a Dominican Friar and insisted on wearing his white habit and his successors continued the practice, because he was so loved. In later years they dispensed with the scapular, but kept the white robe and white shoulder cape with the white kipah (skull cap).

When I see the pope in the white Dominican habit, it feels me with pride to see them wear the habit of the humble Friar Preachers. It seems so appropriate for a pope too, because Peter was a preacher.

JR 🙂
 
JReducation said:
I’m not that big into papal clothing. I do like the preservation of the Dominican habit as the official dress of the Pope. I guess I like it because it’s represents humility.

Prior to St. Pius V popes wore very colourful robes. But Pius V was a Dominican Friar and insisted on wearing his white habit and his successors continued the practice, because he was so loved. In later years they dispensed with the scapular, but kept the white robe and white shoulder cape with the white kipah (skull cap).

When I see the pope in the white Dominican habit, it feels me with pride to see them wear the habit of the humble Friar Preachers. **It gives me lots of joy too. **It seems so appropriate for a pope too, because Peter was a preacher.

JR 🙂
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Does anyone know who the pope’s tailor is? I heard he switched to a new one, from the old firm that serviced the popes a few hundred years
 
John XXIII is one of the few Popes loved by liberals, conservatives, and traditionalists alike. And funnily enough it is usually because each group claims that had he lived for just 10 more years their own respective agendas would have been met.
 
JuanCarlos said:
John XXIII is one of the few Popes loved by liberals, conservatives, and traditionalists alike. And funnily enough it is usually because each group claims that had he lived for just 10 more years their own respective agendas would have been met.
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Isn’t it sad that we often miss someone’s holiness for its own sake and appreciate it in as much as it serves our agenda and our understanding of what the Church should be?

Holiness is holiness, whether it is a person who sits on my side of the aisle or the other.

JR 🙂
 
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