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| John
XXIII He made the Supernatural seem Natural John XXIII By Peter Hebblethwaite. (Revised edition 1994, Harper Collins PP 550. Reviewed by Father Emmet Costello SJ. Eminently readable, brilliantly written and thoroughly researched for nearly seventeen years, this enthralling life of Pope John XXIII, the most popular Pope of the 20th Century who was universally loved and admired, even by Krushchev. Time Magazine in 1962 named him ?man of the year? and the fulsome article proclaimed. ?To the entire world Pope John has given what neither diplomacy nor science could give: a sense of unity of the human family.? Reviewing this book with exceptional enthusiasm, E. Y. Hales, the historian of the papacy, described Pope John as ?the most remarkable Pope of this century? and the book under review to be ?the definitive biography in English for a long time to come.? ?In our own dangerous days there is nobody whom we could do better to reconsider than Roncalli (Pope John) nor anybody who could have provided us with a more intimate, witty perceptive and well informed account than Peter Hebblethwaite.? Born into a large peasant family of twelve children, Angelo Roncalli experienced dire poverty from his earliest days – even walking to school in bare feet to save shoe leather – but also the blessings of the deepest faith from his saintly parents. Throughout his 82 years – the seminary, priesthood, as bishop, nuncio, patriarch and finally Pope – one senses in him a constant, total faith that was as natural to him as the air he breathed. As Cardinal Suenens put it so well, ?He made the supernatural seem natural.? When he was 43, he was consecrated an Archbishop and sent to Bulgaria as a papal representative – hardly a prestigious appointment as the country boasted only 62,000 Catholics. Then followed an appointment in Turkey, a slight promotion but he was still grossly underrated by most of the curial officials in Rome. While in Turkey he worked incessantly to help the Jewish cause and earned the deepest gratitude from the Grand Rabbi of Jerusalem. Then dramatically came the real and most unexpected promotion to Paris as nuncio to placate the irascible and imperious Charles de Gaulle where he worked wonders. After that, patriarch of Venice and on arrival, with typical humility and love, describes himself as ?one who wishes to be simply your brother, loving, approachable, understanding?. And later, most unexpectedly, at the age of 77, in the mysterious designs of God?s providence, the Papacy. Pope for less than five years, yet in him, writes Hebblethwaite, ?the Church and the world were prodigiously blessed.? P ope John was, as it were, not just a Pope for Christians but for all men and women of goodwill. He said often, ?The whole world is my family? my heart is big enough to wish to encompass all mankind.? He was always a man of hope – and who inspired hope. Against much opposition, he received Krushchev?s son-in-law as a gesture of goodwill and hope. Years later Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, referring to the total collapse of Communism, confessed that ?everything that happened in Europe in the last few years would have been impossible without the presence of this Polish Pope.? Hebblethwaite comments: ?It in no way detracts from Pope John Paul II?s mighty achievement to say that he built on the solid foundation of Pope John?s Ostpolitik (rapprochement with Eastern Europe). Everything I wrote about John?s relationship with Krushchev, his role in the Cuban missile crisis and above all, his resounding encyclical Pacem in Terris, was justified by later events. His famous last words strike us today with ever greater force: ?It is not that the Gospel has changed; it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long as I have? were enabled to compare different cultures and traditions and know the moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead?? What was the secret of his genius and success? Faith, love and courage in suffering. When burdened with the Papacy, he made this beautiful prayer, ?I bow my head before the cup of bitterness and my shoulders before the yoke of the cross.? After the Papal coronation he wrote, ?If you don?t remain a disciple of the gentle and humble Master, you will understand nothing even of temporal realities.? C alling a Vatican Council was a comparatively easy matter but getting it out of the control of many archconservative Roman bureaucrats who did not wish for any renewal, nor to discern the signs of the times posed many difficulties. Pope John?s infinite patience, courage and boundless faith ultimately triumphed over all opposition. Allied to his deep spiritual qualities was a constant exhilarating humour. When asked how many worked in the Vatican he replied, ?about half?. When in Paris he found himself at a presidential dinner seated next to a woman whose dress was minimal. Towards the end of the meal he put an apple on her plate and suggested she eat it and said to her: ?Only when Eve ate the apple did she realise how little she had on?. John?s astute diplomacy for peace in the Cuban missile crisis is not sufficiently appreciated. Even Krushchev admitted: ?What the Pope has done for peace will go down in history?the Pope?s message was the only gleam of hope.? President Kennedy, also, echoed these sentiments. The vast achievements of this ?most remarkable Pope of our century?, cannot be quantified. When he died the tributes were universal. A very special editorial appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald – written by Sir Warwick Fairfax himself. I recall the words of St. Cyprian to his very simple, early Christians: ?We are philosophers, not in word but in deed. We don?t say great things but we live them.? Pope John lived great things, the core of the Gospel, faith and love. Hebblethwaite never bores us with pious anecdotes but projects the real man, warm and human, who commands our deepest veneration and gratitude – the Pope for all humanity. |