“A man was sent by God and his name was John.”
(Athenagoras)
John XXIII died on June 3, 1963. His pontificate lasted four years and seven months. He was elected as a compromise candidate, as a transitional pope. Against all expectations, however, he proved to be the greatest reformer of the church, which revolutionized by combating 1,500-year-old prejudices, traditions and hatred against the Jewish people.
Fritz Rubin-Bittmann was born in Vienna in 1944 to Jewish parents and survived as a “submarine”. He is a general practitioner (received the professional title of professor in 2016) and has published on contemporary history and philosophy of religion. – © Directorate of Parliament / Johannes Zinner
Because of his closeness to the people, modesty, affable wit and good-natured cheerfulness, people called him “Papa buono” – the good Pope. However, behind the plump appearance was a man of great vision, deep religiosity and a sharp mind. He was wise out of kindness and kind out of wisdom.
The writer Marie Luise Kaschnitz described the farmer’s son from the village of Sotto il Monte (“Under the Mountain”) near Bergamo, who died on October 28, 1958, as Pontifex Pius XII. followed by a man disguised as a pope.
His theological approach has been described as an aggiornamento. He opened the church to the 20th century. John XXIII His real name was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, his parents were poor farmers. He had 12 brothers, he was the 3rd son, but the first boy, by his father’s will, should take over the farm and assume responsibility for the family. His parents were deeply devout Catholics.
obedience and peace
The local priest recognized the boy’s cleverness, skill and talent, to whom he gave private lessons in Latin. Through him, he attended the Episcopal boarding school in the nearby town of Celana after village school. He walked three hours to and from school every day. At the age of eleven he entered the seminary in Bergamo, where he graduated.
He studied theology in Rome from 1900 onwards and received his doctorate four years later. In 1904 he was ordained a priest – his motto was: “Oboedientia et Pax” (Obedience and Peace).
Roncalli worked from 1905 as secretary to the diocesan bishop of Bergamo, who was his mentor and model. He stuck to his motto: “A priest must intervene where justice and charity are obviously absent”.
World War I and work in Bulgaria, Turkiye and Greece
During World War I, Roncalli served as a medical orderly and military chaplain. He knew the horrors of war firsthand, and later in his life as a diplomat in the Curia and as Pope, he always worked for peace.
In 1925 Roncalli became Archbishop and Apostolic Visitor in Bulgaria. He met Orthodox Christians in Sofia. This personal experience led to an interest in ecumenism, which as Pope he placed on the agenda of the Second Vatican Council, which he initiated.
As Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece, he prevented the deportation of many Jews by issuing them travel visas in the name of the Apostolic Delegation, which allowed them to escape.
Roncalli managed to save thousands of Jews in Hungary – at his request, Hungarian priests issued birth certificates to Jews, identifying them as Christians.
When a group of Jewish refugees in Turkey were in danger of being taken back to Nazi Germany, he negotiated with the German ambassador in Istanbul, Franz von Papen, who was either unable or unwilling to help. The German bishops granted his request to write a letter stating that these people were German Catholics who wanted to make a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Paul of Tarsus. This letter paved the way for the freedom of supposed Catholics.
When Jews who had fled Hungary in Bulgaria were to be deported to Hitler’s Germany, Nuntius Roncalli turned directly to the Bulgarian king, who was well-meaning towards him. By order of the king, trains carrying Hungarian Jews were stopped just short of the border, thus escaping extermination.
Nuncio Roncalli and Lonka Kanzah
My paternal aunt Lonka was married to a Turkish Jew named Kanzah, who was a highly regarded merchant in Vienna. Kanzah left Austria immediately after the Wehrmacht invasion.
My aunt stayed in Vienna because my father was in Gestapo custody. She intervened with lawyers and managed to free my father from Rossauer Lände prison and Gestapo headquarters in Morzin-Platz after horrible and adventurous experiences. In Morzin Square there was a famous hotel owned by a Jew who managed to escape. This was where the Gestapo headquarters was located.
My aunt traveled to her husband in Istanbul. In Istanbul’s Jewish community, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was revered as the savior of thousands of Jews.
When my aunt met Roncalli, she was deeply impressed by his humanity, kindness and helpfulness. Roncalli, on the other hand, valued my aunt because she sent packages of food from Istanbul to my parents who were hiding in Vienna, using false addresses. They had gone underground and managed to hide from the Nazi killing machine. The Jews underground were called “U-boats”. Thousands tried to escape this way – most gave up, were denounced, could not get shelter, had no ration card and no hospital in case of illness. They were hunted and lived in constant fear and despair. My father described being on the U-boat as a “death waiting room existence”.
Roncalli and my aunt saw each other and, she said, he must have helped her get fake addresses. With tears in his eyes, he continued inquiring about my parents’ health and assured them that he prayed for their lives every day. When my mother became pregnant with me, Roncalli prayed for her and me and blessed us.
My aunt worked for Roncalli’s charitable organizations and was always eager to meet him in person and talk with him.
a delicate mission
In December 1944 Nuncio Roncalli was transferred to Paris to appease Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle was outraged by Catholic clergy, particularly bishops, who sympathized and collaborated with the Vichy regime. Roncalli achieved the diplomatic feat of winning the hearts of the French.
Roncalli was also deeply respected as a good person in France for his joy, his humanity and his willingness to help.
He humorously commented on his diplomatic success in Paris: “When the horses have had enough, you take the donkey.”
Archbishop and Cardinal of Venice
Pope Pius XII named Roncalli Cardinal on February 12, 1953 and three days later Archbishop and Patriarch of Venice. Roncalli returned to his homeland and explained to the Venetians that he had not come as a bishop and cardinal, but as a friend and pastor.
His cheerfulness and intellectual vigor were well known, and the fat farmer’s son was considered a big-hearted priest of the Lord.
French President Vincent Auriol insisted on wearing the cardinal’s cap for Roncalli at the ordination of a cardinal – in keeping with an ancient French custom.
Pontifex Maximus
After the death of Pius XII, whose pontificate lasted 16 years, Roncalli was elected pope on October 28, 1958 in the fourth enclave ballot. As pope, the plump and good-natured peasant priest immediately won the hearts of the people who gathered in St. Peter’s Square with the words: “I am Joseph, your brother.”
Among the first orders was the increase in salaries of Vatican officials and the abolition of foot-kissing and three-knees in private audiences.
Nobody expected that the 77-year-old, already suffering from a carcinoma, João XXIII. would change and reform nearly 1,500 years of church history. To everyone’s surprise, he declared in 1958 that he was planning a Vatican Council and wanted to issue a “Jewish Decree” to improve relations with the Jews. John XXIII as pope declared war on 1,500 years of Christian hatred of Jews. Jews have been scapegoats for Christianity for 1,500 years. It has been a tradition of the Catholic Church for 1,500 years to hold the Jews responsible for everything bad in the world as deicides – they were considered well poisoners, ritual murderers and enemies of Christianity.
John XXIII changed the Good Friday liturgy and thus brought about a total revision. The words “perfidis” and “judaicum perfidium” (“Jewish infidelity”) are taken from the great intercessions of Good Friday 1959 and also from the daily prayers of priests.
When a cardinal led the traditional “oremus pro perfidis judaeis” (“we pray for the unfaithful Jews”) during the Good Friday liturgy, Pope John XXIII. the cardinal to repeat the Good Friday liturgy as he had presented it as pope.
John XXIII commissioned the Jesuit Augustin Bea to draft a decree on the Jews. Augustin Bea was Pius XII’s confessor. and refused to receive from him the cardinal dignity. He was disappointed in Pius XXII, as during the Nazi era he had not publicly defended persecuted Jews in any of his speeches or writings, nor had he condemned the Nazis’ racial anti-Semitism.
With her new task of writing the Jewish decree, Bea became the target of spiteful attacks by the Curia. Influential cardinals – Ottaviani, Siri, Carli, Cicognani – wanted to overturn the Jewish decree. Cardinal Augustin Bea was a tireless fighter for the Christian rehabilitation of the Jews, or as Friedrich Heer called him: “the first love of God”.
The Holy Office fought Cardinal Bea with all means, intrigue, slander and lies. The Jewish decree prepared by him was intended to eliminate ecclesiastical and theological anti-Judaism. In its resistance, the Curia found the Arab states as allies.
John XXIII did not live to see the end of Vatican II in 1965. His successor Paul. SAW. was warned by Arab politicians and diplomats that the proposed Jewish Declaration would trigger a bloodbath between Arabs and Eastern Christians. Cardinal Bea had to withdraw the Jewish declaration and the Curia triumphed, God cursed the Jews and indeed all generations of Jews, Jewish suffering was God’s retribution for their transgressions and crimes, God himself cursed and rejected the Jews.
In this situation, Cardinal König and Bishop Frings of Cologne managed to strengthen Augustin Bea. “Nostra aetate” (“Our time”) was intended to regulate the Catholic Church’s interdenominational relationship with other religions, rather than the intended statement by John XXIII for the Jews. The old motto, “extra ecclesiam, nulla salus”, should no longer apply, as other religions would also have access to God’s salvation. The struggle for approval of Nostra Aetate required patience and a great deal of diplomatic skill – the formulations of Nostra Aetate were repeatedly rejected, Cardinal Bea vilified as a friend bought by the Jews and by John XXIII. referred to as another “Anerkletius”. It is said that Anercletius II was of Jewish descent.
The Pope of Peace
John XXIII was an opponent of communism, but he sought dialogue with the people behind the Iron Curtain. He was respected by Nikita Khrushchev and received Khrushchev’s daughter and son-in-law in audience. German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer then designated John XXIII. as politically inexperienced and stupid. João XXIII but followed his own path without letting himself down and was open to talking with everyone. In the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy turned to Pope John XXIII. and asked him to intercede with Khrushchev. Kennedy was aware that John XXIII. he was respected by Khrushchev and held in the highest regard. John XXIII was able to help deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the world to the brink of World War III.
24,000 Jews rescued
At the Nuremberg Trials, Franz von Papen, German Chancellor and most recently Hitler’s Ambassador to Turkey, was accused and only escaped through the intercession of John XXIII. a harsh punishment. Franz von Papen explained that Johannes XXIII. when Nuncio Roncalli and Apostolic Delegate to Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria saved the lives of over 24,000 Jews.
Shortly before his death on June 3, 1963, John XXIII. asked him what he had to say about Hochhuth’s play “The Deputy”. In the words of Hanna Ahrendt, John XXIII declared, “Nothing can be done against the truth.”
A particularly beautiful penitential prayer by John XXIII. reads:
“We now see that many, many centuries of blindness has covered our eyes from seeing the beauty of His chosen people and recognizing in their faces the features of our eldest brother. We see that the mark of Cain is on our foreheads For centuries our brother Abel has lain there in tears and blood because we forgot Your love. Forgive us the curse we unjustly pronounced on the name of the Jews. Forgive us because in your curse we crucified you a second time. For we didn’t know what. we were doing… “