John XXIII

Life

He was born to a poor farming family in Sotto il Monte, a rural village near Bergamo in northern Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1904. During World War I he reportedly served as a military chaplain. He then entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serving in Bulgaria (1925–1934), and from 1934 he served as apostolic delegate to Turkey and Greece. He later served as apostolic nuncio to France. In 1953 he was made a cardinal and appointed Patriarch of Venice.

When Pope Pius XII of the Catholic Church died in 1958, the 76-year-old Roncalli was elected pope on October 28 of that year and took the papal name John. Because of his advanced age, many regarded him as a "transitional pope" who would simply hold the office for a short time. Over a pontificate of four years and seven months, however, he brought about major changes. He died on June 3, 1963.

Ministry and Accomplishments

• Convocation of the Second Vatican Council: An ecumenical council is a gathering of the bishops of the whole Church to deliberate on doctrine and discipline. On January 25, 1959, just three months after his election, John XXIII announced that he would convene a council. The date was the feast of the Conversion of Paul the Apostle and also the final day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He made the announcement to seventeen cardinals after celebrating Mass. The council opened on October 11, 1962, in St. Peter's Basilica. He adopted as the guiding spirit of the council the Italian word aggiornamento, meaning the renewal of the Church to meet the needs of the times. During the first session he set out two clear aims: the modernization of the Church and the restoration of unity among Christians.
• The encyclical Pacem in Terris: An encyclical is an official document through which the pope communicates his teaching. Issued on April 11, 1963, this encyclical was the first addressed not only to Catholics but to "all men of good will."
• On the same day that he announced the council, he also announced a synod of the Diocese of Rome (an assembly of diocesan representatives) and a revision of the Code of Canon Law. He also abolished the long-standing rule that limited the number of cardinals to seventy.

He died after the first session ended in December 1962, without seeing the second session. His successor, Paul VI, carried the council forward and brought it to a close in 1965.

Influence on the Church in Korea

On March 10, 1962, John XXIII issued the apostolic constitution Fertile Evangelii Semen ("The Fertile Seed of the Gospel"), establishing a formal hierarchy for the Catholic Church in Korea. In this context, a hierarchy is an ecclesiastical structure of regular dioceses governed by bishops. As a result, the Korean jurisdictions that had remained mission vicariates apostolic were raised to regular dioceses, and Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju became archdioceses. The Catholic Church in Korea regards this as the turning point at which it was recognized as a self-governing local church (see History of the Catholic Church in Korea). In September of the same year, he sent a donation of US$10,000 to flood-stricken Suncheon.

His identification of Christian unity as one of the council's aims also affected relations between Protestantism and the Catholic Church. This development is often discussed in connection with the ecumenical movement (the movement for church unity).

Assessment

The Catholic Church honors him as a humble and warm-hearted shepherd. On September 3, 2000, John Paul II declared him Blessed (beatification), and on April 27, 2014, Pope Francis declared him a saint (canonization). His feast day is October 11, the date on which the council opened.

His announcement that he would convene a council caused a great stir at the time and reportedly provoked both surprise and concern even within the Church. Assessments of the council he began and of its outcomes vary according to theological position, both within the Catholic Church and among the various Protestant denominations.