The Day of Four Popes Callista and I returned earlier this week from Rome where we attended the canonization Mass in Saint Peter’s Square of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II celebrated by Pope Francis and attended by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. gingrichproductions.us5.list-manage1/track/click?u=3872bad904308135ca41de823&id=0c860b7d0a&e=4aae891a07 It was the first time two popes have been canonized together and the first time two popes have appeared together at a canonization. It was an extraordinary global event. In Rome, more than 800,000 pilgrims from around the world attended, many of whom watched the Mass on large television screens set up around the city. Worldwide, it’s estimated that hundreds of millions people watched on TV. It was also an extraordinary day in the life of the Catholic Church. The “day of the four popes encapsulated -- in a single day -- the previous fifty-six years of Catholic Church history, a time of renewal and continuity that has had an extraordinarily positive impact on the world. The Second Vatican Council and Pope John XXIII It is impossible to understand the significance of the canonization of these two new saints without some understanding of the Second Vatican Council (Oct 1962-Dec. 1965) and the role it has played in the life of the Church since 1965. gingrichproductions.us5.list-manage/track/click?u=3872bad904308135ca41de823&id=62dfd00e5e&e=4aae891a07 On October 28, 1958 - the beginning of a brief 56-year look back in Catholic Church history -- the Cardinals of the Catholic Church elected on the eleventh ballot Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the 76-year-old Cardinal Archbishop of Venice. It is believed the Cardinals settled on a compromise candidate, an older churchman whom many believed would serve as a transitional figure for what would likely be a relatively short reign. But the new Pope John XXIII declined to play a passive role. Less than three months after his election, the new Pope called for the convening of a new ecumenical council of bishops worldwide, the first in nearly 100 years and only the 21st such council in the nearly 2000 year life of the Catholic Church. In the context of American political and constitutional life, the closest analogy to such a wide-open examination of the future would be if two thirds of the state legislatures in the United States convened a constitutional convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. Because nobody can anticipate what such a wide-open constitutional convention might do to refashion our constitutional system, most politicians are fearful to support such an action. As a result, no such convention has ever been convened in our 226 years under the Constitution. In fact, fear was indeed the reaction of many church leaders to Pope John XXIII’s calling of an ecumenical Council. Cardinal Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, who succeeded Pope John XXIII when he died in the middle of the council in June 1963, is reported to have said to a friend at the time this holy boy doesnt realize what a hornets nest hes stirring up. But Pope John XXIII would have none of this fear. He was convinced of the need in the Catholic Church for, as he put it, an “aggiornamento”, or a “bringing up to date.” In preliminary discussions about the Council, Pope John XXIII said that he wanted to open the windows of the church to let in some fresh air. For Pope John XIII, the Council was not about “modernizing” the Church per se; it was rather about bringing the unchanging truth of the Gospels to the modern world in a more effective manner. In his speech opening up the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII said: “The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously.” In part for his fearlessness in convening the Second Vatican Council so that the Catholic Church might renew its evangelical mission, the Church has now declared John XXIII a saint of the Church. The Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II Without Saint John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, it is hard to believe we ever would have had Pope John Paul II. It is no wonder why Saints John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized together; they are the two great figures of the Second Vatican Council. Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was a young 42-year-old Polish Bishop at the start of Vatican II. He made several important contributions to the work of the Council and later, in Krakow, oversaw the implementation of Vatican II reforms. Upon his election, Pope John Paul II chose the name of his immediate predecessor Pope John Paul, to identify the continuity of the two previous popes (John XXIII and Paul VI) who opened and closed, respectively, the Second Vatican Council. During his 26-year reign, Pope John Paul II became the Council’s great implementer. Indeed, in his travels to over 100 countries and in his teaching mission with all that he wrote and said, Pope John Paul II demonstrated the evangelical reach of the Catholic Church, which Pope John XXIII envisioned with his call for the Second Vatican Council. It was in particular Pope John Paul II’s simple call for the faithful to “not be afraid” and to “open wide the doors to Christ” that probably had the most far-reaching and dramatic impact. Ten years after he preached this message during his first pilgrimage to Poland in June 1979, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. Two years later the Soviet Union itself disintegrated. (This is a story we tell in our documentary film Nine Days that Changed the World.) During his homily at Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger captured the simple essence of Pope John Paul II: “The love of Christ was the dominant force in the life of our beloved Holy Father. Anyone who ever saw him pray, who ever heard him preach, knows that. Thanks to his being profoundly rooted in Christ, he was able to bear a burden which transcends merely human abilities: that of being the shepherd of Christ’s flock, his universal Church.” It was something that the four million people who flooded Rome for the funeral knew as well, which is why they chanted and held signs reading: “Santo Subito” (“Sainthood Now”). Popes Benedict XVI and Francis One of the most moving moments during the canonization Mass was to see Pope Francis greet Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It was a historic moment to be sure, but it was also a moment of warm fraternal affection and unity. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was a long time collaborator with Pope John Paul II and later his successor. And it was Pope Benedict XVI who waived for John Paul II the normal five-year waiting period before a cause of canonization can start. Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign as Pope in 2013 was an extraordinary act of humility. It paved the way for Pope Francis from Argentina. We now have had three non-Italian popes in a row. gingrichproductions.us5.list-manage/track/click?u=3872bad904308135ca41de823&id=4d770ae5c0&e=4aae891a07 In reflecting on his own election, Pope John Paul II believed that there must have been something about his experience in Poland, which was of service to the universal Church. I wonder today if Pope Francis doesn’t believe something similar, that there is something about his experience in Argentina, and as a Jesuit, that is to be of service to the universal Church. It is still early in his pontificate, but I believe it will become
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 00:58:20 +0000
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