[That's leaving aside Sixtus V. He's the hard-nosed pope who, in just five years (1585-1590), created the Roman Curia that still exists today in only slightly modified form, and the one who totally transformed the city of Rome. But why digress?]

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected to the Chair of Peter on October 28, 1958, and died less than five years later on June 3, 1963.

His lasting legacy can be summed up as Second Vatican Council.

John was already 77 years old and just three months into his short pontificate when he announced plans to hold the Council, catching many of the Church's cardinals and Vatican officials completely off guard.

The Good Pope, as many called him, got the conciliar ball rolling, but he only lived long enough to open the first of what would eventually be the Four Sessions of Vatican II.

He did that on October 11, 1962, a day that has been hailed as one of the most momentous in the modern history of Christianity.

And then, eight months later, he was gone.

An inspiration of the Holy Spirit

Pope John was beatified during the Great Jubilee of 2000 and officially declared a saint in 2014, did not change the Church dramatically during his four years and eight months as Supreme Pontiff.

That is, he did not make any significant modifications to Church practice or structures, even if he did strike a new and refreshing tone for Catholicism the world over.

Rather, it was the Council that he convened — through an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he said — that began a process of reform in the Church more significant than anything since the 16th century Council of Trent.

John's process, which Paul VI tried in various ways to continue during his 15-year-long pontificate (not always successfully), was brought to port at some point during the long reign of John Paul II.

There is no doubt that Pope Francis is trying to revive the Vatican II project of reform that John XXIII set in motion. But sixty years after the Italian pope's death, some wonder if it might be too late.

The fervour to give new life to a more dynamic sort of "People's Church", as the late Vatican II enthusiast and chronicler Robert Blair Kaiser called it, is nowhere near as alive today as it was even twenty-five or thirty years ago.

The current pope's audacious gamble to make synodality (all the baptised — clergy and laity — "walking together") a constitutive part of the Church's very nature and reason for being has aroused great interest.

But that interest is found mainly among older Catholics — the so-called "Vatican II generation".

That's not to say that no young people have been involved in Francis' project.

It's just that, compared to those over the age of 60, they are in the minority.

To put this generational gap into context, consider that only one man alive today was a bishop at the time of John's death. He's 101-year-old José de Jesús Sahagún de la Parra of Mexico.

The temptation to turn back

It's no secret that the Catholic Church — like all the mainline Christian Churches and communities — is experiencing a drop in membership, a crisis in leadership, deep ideological divisions, and uncertainty about how to best carry out its "missionary" or "evangelising" presence in our rapidly and frighteningly changing societies.

So much has happened in the world and the Church during the 60 years since Pope John died that it's tempting to long for the good old days before everything became so uncertain, complicated, and unravelled.

And, honestly, going backwards is not only the temptation of traditionalist Catholics.

The so-called reform-minded types also tend, at times, to want to return to the old debates of the post-Vatican II period that they ended up on the wrong side of, and fight them all over again.

Meanwhile, the young people.... where are they?

Again, it's not like there are no longer any Catholics under the age of 50 or 60. But they are fewer and fewer in number.

That goes for those involved in the traditionalist groups in the Church, as well, which are just more clever and adroit than the "progressives" at marketing themselves as thriving communities, especially on social media.

But attempts to recapture or recreate a bygone era almost always end up badly.

There is no going back — not to the halcyon days of the 1960s Council nor the "golden age" of Catholicism that preceded it.

A prophet in his time

The God of history moves us forward.

Always.

Just read the history of salvation in the Hebrew scriptures, especially the story of the Exodus.

God freed the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt and led them into the desert.

There they would wander for 40 years before finally reaching the land God promised them.

All the while, they defied God and tried to find ways to turn back.

They did not trust in God's Word as it was spoken through the prophets, Moses chief among them.

Many believe that John XXIII was also a prophet in his time.

The Holy Spirit prompted him to move the Church forward just as the world — the one that "God so loved..." and still loves — was also moving forward.

But moving forward means we cannot take everything with us on the journey, only that which is essential, useful, and faithful to the mission.

We must let go of many things (including structures, procedures, and attitudes) that are collapsing, dying, and no longer relevant.

Yes, the journey the Church has been on these past six decades has been extremely rough and very uncertain at times.

We've probably stopped more times than we would like to admit.

And we've even turned back.

But this is all part of the plan of God, in the presence and workings of the Holy Spirit.

So as we remember Pope John with gratitude on the 60th anniversary of his death, let us also give thanks and lend a helping hand to Pope Francis, who is trying to move us forward once more.

"Saint John XXIII, pray for your Jesuit successor, and pray for the Church you served so faithfully."

• Robert Mickens is LCI Editor in Chief.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

The pope has made repeated calls for mercy and for the church to hear voices from the peripheries. This is an invitation to accept that the Holy Spirit speaks not just to church leaders but also to all the baptized.

Cardinal Tobin delivered his message on May 4 n his talk, ‘Synodality and the Long Game of Pope Francis'.

The talk was given during the annual Cardinal Bernardin Common Cause Lecture at Loyola University Chicago's Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage.

To bring about the necessary change, the pope has focused on synodality as the path forward. His experience as a church leader in Argentina influenced this, the cardinal explained.

"One way we can look at this is that the election of Pope Francis opened up the rest of the world to the rich theological foment of the church in Latin America, with its strong sense of mission, encounter, the peripheries and mercy," Tobin said

"Many, including church leaders in this country (USA), have found that shift to be uncomfortable," Tobin added.

"They shouldn't because it didn't start with Francis, and I believe it's not going away anytime soon," he added.

The path toward synodality, the cardinal continued, will require the church to undergo its own conversion, "a new way of understanding and approaching how we carry out our mission."

Tobin went on to quote Pope John XXIII's opening address to the Second Vatican Council that "Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than of severity."

Vatican II produced that blueprint, Tobin suggested but noted that other popes continued the work.

He said St. John Paul II made sure it "kept to the exact specifications required."

Then Pope Benedict XVI put the finishing touches on the propulsion engine. "Now Pope Francis has flipped the switch to on."

Describing how Pope Francis "is revving up the engine to see what it can do," Tobin said those who feel most threatened by including those on the peripheries in the life of the church are those "with the most engineered grasp of all the norms and canons (of church law)."

"To this, I would posit, you can be the most knowledgeable mechanic on earth and still be a rotten driver," Tobin said.

Synodality, he said, requires that voices throughout the church are welcomed and heard.

The cardinal again turned to St John XXIII, recalling how he urged Vatican II's participants to "open the window."

"We always associated this with letting in fresh air," Tobin said.

"But something else happens when you open a window. You can hear what the people outside, those below your window, are saying.

Eight years into Francis' papacy, through the process of conversion — a process Tobin said that even the pope has undergone — and through the instrument of synodality, Francis is helping to "integrate the head of the church and the rest of the body of Christ."

"We can't embrace people with just our heads," said Tobin, before asking: "Where are the outstretched arms of the body of Christ?"

Sources

• Crux
• National Catholic Reporter

The canonisations will take place at St Peter's Basilica in Rome at 10am on 27 April, the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). The corresponding time here in New Zealand will be at 8pm on that Sunday evening.

Some cathedrals and churches in New Zealand are planning to observe the event on the Sunday evening closer to the actual time of canonisation in Rome while others are planning to do so during their earlier morning Masses.

• In Auckland and Wellington the Sunday Masses will feature photograph and other displays about the pontificates and teachings of the two popes and there will be diplomatic and consular representation from Poland and Italy.
• Christchurch and Palmerston North cathedrals are also including photograph displays and special prayers during their Sunday Masses.
• Bishop Denis Browne of the Hamilton Diocese will be in Rome for the canonisations, leading a group of pilgrims from his diocese. The day also marks the feast day of the diocesan patron, St Peter Chanel, and marks the 34th anniversary of the establishment of the diocese. This year the special diocesan Mass will be held at St Mary's Church in Rotorua where, along with the cathedral and other parish churches, there will be special prayers and observances of the canonisation.
• SKY News is checking to see whether they might give direct coverage to the event. Possibly it will be screened also on CNN and BBC TV. Those with access to EWTN will also be able to watch live coverage from Rome.

Last week the Holy See Press Office presented some information about the canonisations. These include a digital platform to allow access to news and information about the ceremonies as well as a series of reflections on the life and teachings of both popes.

The official site, www.2papisanti.org, is an almost-completed portal offering information, videos and images and well as documentation on the two popes in five languages.

The app, entitled "Santo Subito" may be downloaded in both android and IOS formats in Italian, English, Spanish and Polish will offer information as well as access to the main news on the canonisations, and will allow material relating to the various liturgical events to be downloaded.

Even young New Zealanders will remember Pope John Paul who died only nine years ago in 2005. Those of an older generation will have fond memories of "Good Pope John" who died in June 1963 as the pope who broke the mould of the distant, somewhat austere figures of his predecessors with his informality and warmth.

Perhaps the testimony of the world when he died was best expressed by a newspaper drawing of the earth shrouded in mourning with the simple caption, "A Death in the Family". The two popes have been described respectively as the 'herald' and the 'servant' of the Second Vatican Council.

Last year when Pope Francis was asked by reporters, while on his flight back from World Youth Day in Rio, to describe the two great popes year, he said that Blessed John was a bit of a country priest who loved each of the faithful and knew how to care for them both as bishop and nuncio. He described him as holy, patient man with a good sense of humour and especially, by calling the Second Vatican Council, as a man of courage who let himself be guided by the Lord.

And speaking of Blessed John Paul II, Pope Francis told reporters that he thought of him as the great missionary of the Church because he was a man who proclaimed the Gospel everywhere.

Many of us remember Pope John Paul's visit here in November 1986 to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. It coincided with the 150^th anniversary of the appointment of the first Bishop of Oceania, Jean Baptiste Pompallier, who later became New Zealand's first bishop.

John Paul had earlier visited New Zealand in 1973 when as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Cracow, he came to meet with the Polish community. His visit as the first Pope to come to New Zealand in 1986 gained unprecedented media coverage second only to that of earlier Royal Tours.

The National Liturgy Office of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference has issued some suggestions and resources for parishes, schools and communities to help them celebrate the canonisations. These can be found on their website www.nlc.org.nz and on the Auckland diocesan website.

Read original article by Lyndsay Freer

"Good Pope John" would occasionally say he needed to "escape".

Continue reading

In April, Pope Francis will beatify on the same day both Popes John Paul II and John XXII.

Each represents contrasting styles and records as Bishop of Rome: John XIII who convoked the Vatican Council and opened up the Church; John Paul II who stiffened and straightened the Church when some thought it was out of control.

From his opening words as Pope, Papa Francisco has cut a very different path to that of John Paul II and his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis engaging, direct, simple and accessible approach has been quick to demonstrate a leadership style which is more inclusive.

And, along the way he has quietly but emphatically faced the Church in a fresh if not new direction.

But what a backlog of issues the Church has to face.

With two simple observations - one to journalists in the plane on the way from Brazil and the other in his long interview with the Jesuit magazines last year - he has personally managed to defuse sex and homosexuality as obsessive topics of Catholic focus.

50 years of issues

However, the Church has virtually 50 years of unaddressed issues and reforms that need to be addressed:

Clericalism, the restructuring of ministry and the ticket into the clerical culture at heart of so trouble for the Church - celibacy - which Pope Paul VI prevented the Vatican Council from considering;

The weak grasp of human biology reflected in the Church's sexual ethics;

Centralism and careerism in Church administration;

The horrifying blight of sex abuse on the credibility of the Church on any moral issue;

The outdated nature of the church's legal processes; And perhaps the biggest issue,

the exclusion of women from positions of decision making significance.

That's where the inclusion of Pope John XXIII in the beatification ceremonies next month becomes the clear indication of the style and direction of his term as Bishop of Rome.

The canonisation of two popes

John XXIII cause for canonization had been languishing. Pope Francis dispensed with the usual process and simply declared, as he can, John XXIII to be worthy of beatification.

Fans and devotees of John Paul II had started the chant for his canonization at his funeral - "Santo Subito".

Prominent among those leading the chorus were the now discredited Legionaries of Christ.

John Paul's affectionate but irresponsible protection and negligent sponsorship of the Legionaries founder, Marcial Maciel, remains the black spot in his pontificate. But the beatification wheels were turning for John Paul II and it seemed difficult to derail the plans of John Paul's cult members.

As all leaders know, managing change requires that the leader take the majority of the community, organization or nation along with him or her as the changes unfold.

Pope Francis has already indicated how he wants to address these and other tense issues in the life of the Church - with open discussion, inclusive participation in the conversation and a process that will reach conclusions.

That is why he called the Extraordinary Synod on what all pastors in many countries know is a matter of acute pastoral tension - serving and including the divorced and remarried in the Church community.

Pope Francis, learning from his mistakes

As Jesuit Provincial in the 1970s, he was widely seen as a self willed and domineering figure.

Divided as the Jesuits in Argentina were, he did little more than antagonize many with his style.

But he has learnt from that failure.

At the heart of Jesuit governance is the good working relationship and openness needed between the leader and his subjects.

After failing as Provincial, Jorge Mario Bergoglio had another opportunity to learn how to govern when he became Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

There, his approach was to be decisive only after extensive and inclusive engagement and consultation with those involved in or affected by the decision.

Such processes mean change will only come slowly.

But to govern effectively, Pope Francis needs to govern inclusively, as reflected symbolically in this joint beatification next month.

Why is Pope Francis twinning the two popes?

He is defusing tensions while at the same firmly leading in a positive direction - defuse the cultists by beatifying John Paul II yet underlining what Pope Francis really wants: a return to the spirit of Vatican II as the animating spirit of the Church.

That's why John XXIII got fast-tracked.

Faction ridden as the Vatican in particular and Church in general really are, Francis has to take with him as many as he can from all factions as he helps the Church face the reality of its challenges and respond constructively.

The documented turning point of his life after failure as Jesuit Provincial occurred before a picture in a German church of Our Lady, The One Who Unties Knots.

To do what he plainly wants to do, Our Lady will have to be working overtime.

- Fr Michael Kelly is executive director of UCANews. Used with permission.

The announcement was made on Monday during a meeting with cardinals.

The Associated Press reported that analysts have said the decision to canonize the two popes together was aimed at unifying the church because each has his own admirers and critics.

In July, Pope Francis had announced he would canonize the two together.

On the anniversary of John Paul's death this year, Francis prayed at the tombs of both men - an indication that he sees a great personal and spiritual continuity in them, the Daily Mail said in its report.

A spokesman for Poland's bishops' conference said the dual canonizations would stress the fact that John Paul II continued the ideas introduced by John XXIII.

Originally, the canonization was expected to have taken place December 8 but Polish bishops complained that would make it difficult for Polish pilgrims to come to the Vatican by bus along snowy, icy roads.

As a result, the first Sunday after Easter was chosen instead - a feast day established by John Paul.

It was on that same feast day - Divine Mercy Sunday - that John Paul was beatified in 2011, drawing 1.5 million pilgrims to Rome.

Sources

The Daily Mail

AP/The Telegraph

USA Today

Image: Hotel del Artistes

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, said the date for the canonization will be announced after the meeting.

He said only Pope Francis knows for sure the date he will proclaim the two popes saints, though he already implied that it is likely to be in 2014.

Pope Francis signed a decree recognizing the miracle needed for Blessed John Paul's canonization on July 5.

Pope Francis announced last month that his two 20th century predecessors would be declared saints.

John Paul was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005, drawing vast crowds as he crisscrossed the globe. The third-longest-serving pope in history, died at the age of 84 after suffering from Parkinson's disease, arthritis and other ailments for several years.

Pope John XXIII was famed for calling the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which ushered in great changes in the Roman Catholic Church's relationship with the modern world. He was pope from 1958 to 1963.

Sources

CNS/NCR Online

CNN/Fox News

Catholic Herald

Image: CNS/Catholic Herald

When I decided, months ago, to resign all of my official duties on the occasion of my 85th birthday, I assumed I would never see fulfilled my dream that — after all the setbacks following the Second Vatican Council — the Catholic church would once again experience the kind of rejuvenation that it did under Pope John XXIII.

Then my theological companion over so many decades, Joseph Ratzinger — both of us are now 85 — suddenly announced his resignation from the papal office effective at the end of February. And on March 19, St. Joseph's feast day and my birthday, a new pope with the surprising and programmatic name Francis assumed this office.

Has Jorge Mario Bergoglio considered why no pope has dared to choose the name of Francis until now? At any rate, the Argentine was aware that with the name of Francis he was connecting himself with Francis of Assisi, the world-famous 13th-century downshifter who had been the fun-loving, worldly son of a rich textile merchant in Assisi, until at the age of 24, he gave up his family, wealth and career, even giving his splendid clothes back to his father.

It is astonishing how, from the first minute of his election, Pope Francis chose a new style: unlike his predecessor, no miter with gold and jewels, no ermine-trimmed cape, no made-to-measure red shoes and headwear, no magnificent throne.

Astonishing, too, that the new pope deliberately abstains from solemn gestures and high-flown rhetoric and speaks in the language of the people.

And finally it is astonishing how the new pope emphasizes his humanity: He asked for the prayers of the people before he gave them his blessing; settled his own hotel bill like anybody else; showed his friendliness to the cardinals in the coach, in their shared residence, at the official goodbye; washed the feet of young prisoners, including those of a young Muslim woman. A pope who demonstrates that he is a man with his feet on the ground. Continue reading

Sources

• Hans Kung in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Guardian

Theologian Fr. Hans Küng writes from Tübingen, Germany.

"There will never be a Pius XIII": to understand the meaning of Jean Guitton's phrase, the radical "renewal" triggered in the Church by the Second Vatican Council needs to be taken further as the book "Il segreto dei papi" ("The Popes' secret") by Bernard Lecomte, currently editor in chief of Figaro magazine and former world affairs editor for La Croix (San Paolo publishers, 250 pages, Euro 16).

A moving episode inspires the birth of the meeting. On 23 September 1962 John XXIII was reaching the end of his spiritual retreat in the oratory of Torre San Giovanni (Southern Italy) two steps away from the apostolic palace, when his doctor asked to see him. During those final days, the elderly Pope underwent some tests with utmost confidentiality. The test results showed there was no hope and confirmed his suspicions about his health. He was a goner. It was certain he would not see it through to the end of the Council. He had nothing to lose. Pope John XXIII sat at his desk on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace and started to write the speech he was going to give on 11 October, the day of the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council, in St. Peter's Basilica. He just reeled it off, without any notes. And without any assistance, except from an abbot who took care of the text's translation into Latin.

The work John XXIII did to explain that the Council must allow the Church to "dedicate itself resolutely and fearlessly to the task which our times require", was all his own, the writer says. Roncalli severely criticises "the prophets of misfortune" that surround him and affirms that the Church "prefers to use the medicine of charity instead of taking up the weapons of severity." Roncalli wrote without fear. The "good Pope" intentionally and confidently presented a vision of the Catholics of the future. Read more

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Image: salt + light blog

On January 25, 1959, the newly elected Pope John XXIII invited 18 cardinals from the Vatican bureaucracy to attend a service at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. He told them he planned to summon a global church council. The horrified cardinals were speechless, which the Pope mischievously chose to interpret as devout assent.

But, in reality, the Vatican bureaucrats, known as the Curia, were aghast. The Pope, 77, had been elected purely as a caretaker, but here he was indulging a novel, unpredictable, dangerous and, above all, they believed, unnecessary notion.

In their view it would create ungovernable expectations and might even lead to changes. And if there were to be changes - always undesirable - then the Curia would manage them without any outside intervention, as they had for centuries.

They regrouped and fought back. If they could not avoid the council, then they would control it. They proposed 10 commissions controlled by Curia members to run the council, which would discuss 70 documents prepared by the Curia. Everything was designed to reinforce the status quo.

The Curia were right to worry. What Pope John unleashed, now known as Vatican II, was the most momentous religious event since Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation 450 years earlier.

"It was a revolution," says American theologian John Markey. "It was the most fundamental shift in self-understanding by the church in 1500 years. It is not over yet."

The winds of change proved more like a tornado, leaving almost nothing untouched. It is difficult for people under 60 to grasp how radical, how wide-ranging and how deep the effects were because they do not remember the church as it was before the council - "frozen in a time warp", as Jesuit priest Gerald O'Collins told The Age. Read more

Sources

• The Sydney Morning Herald
• Image: Church of the Good Shepherd

50 years on, we gather to celebrate as Catholics, confident that the gifts of the Spirit will assist us in proclaiming the Good News to each other, to our fellow believers, and to our fellow citizens no matter what their religious beliefs or none. Let's recall that it was the week of Christian Unity in 1959 when John XXIII gathered with a small selection of his cardinals in the Benedictine chapterhouse beside the Basilica of Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls when he said, 'I am prompted to open my mind and heart to you, because of this feast of the Conversion of St Paul. I want to tell you frankly about several points of planned pastoral activity which have emerged in my thoughts because of my brief three months here within these church circles in Rome. In doing so, I am thinking of the care of the souls of the faithful in these modern times.' Continue reading

Sources

• Frank Brennan SJ in Eureka Street
• Image: Caput Mundi

Born into a peasant family, one of 13 children, he wore hand-me-down clothes until he was in gradate school. He was unabashedly human. He smoked cigarettes, drank wine and enjoyed eating.

He was elected pope at the age of 77 in 1958 and convened the Second Vatican Council.

It is the ecumenical council that is still changing the church today.

In his opening speech at the Second Vatican Council, Pope John said that he "preferred the medicine of mercy to that of severity." He practiced that throughout his life as a Christian, a priest, a bishop and as pope.

The Italians called him "good Pope John." Protestants and Jews alike loved him. During the Second World War he saved many Jews from being killed by the Nazis in the concentration camps. The Jewish community considers him a righteous gentile for this work.

He had a great sense of humor. Once, when he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, he murmured with a chuckle, "Lord this man is going to be a disaster on television."

Blessed Pope John's sayings provide a model by which to live one's faith life. Just listen to them:

• "See everything, overlook much, correct little."
• "There would be no pagans if we all lived like real Christians."
• "Christian faith is this: serenity and inner calm while offering oneself to God."
• "A day without prayer is like a sky without the sun, a garden without flowers."
• On the occasion of his installation as pope, he said: "The secret of everything is to let yourself be carried by the Lord and to carry the Lord."