Cardinal Loris Capovilla, John XXIII, Fatima and his "Last Will"

John XXIII. and his Secretary Loris Capovilla

(Rome) On Sunday Cardinal Loris Capovilla died at the age of 100 years. Born near Padua in 1915 Capovilla was ordained in 1940 as a priest of the Patriarchate of Venice. There he acted as master of ceremonies in St. Mark's and from 1949 as editor of the church newspaper of the patriarchate.

Since 1925, a friend of Angelo Roncalli

In 1953 in the same year Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was made Patriarch he was appointed as his private secretary. The two have known each other since 1925. From that year dates the first letter Capovilla wrote to the later Patriarch and Pope. In 1958 Roncalli who was elected Pope John XXIII. took Capovilla as his secretary with him to Rome. It was a  trust that would last until the death of the Pope in 1963.

Pope Paul VI. had appointed him Archbishop of Chieti in 1967. His successor in this position since 2004 is the theologian Bruno Forte, the author of the scandalous paragraphs on homosexuality in the interim report of the Synod of Bishops in 2014. However, Capovilla's activity did not last long as a diocesan bishop. In 1971 he was appointed by Paul VI. as prelate of Loreto  as an envoy to the territorially small see of Loreto, and as a papal envoy to the Marian shrine of Loreto. At the age of 73, Capovilla resigned in 1988 as a prelate and has lived since then in the birthplace of John XXIII., who worked as his executor and working on his beatification.

Capovilla published on John XXIII. and released parts of his correspondence and diaries. Recently, he published in 2013 along with a great-nephew of Pope Roncalli, excerpts from his own council diaries. Nevertheless, he did little to bring to light the actual motives of John XXIII., which lead to the surprising convocation of an ecumenical council. Yet his publications offer many other interesting pieces of information for the most recent Church history.

The Council, the "Fire" and the "Vultures"

At the center of Capo Villas conciliar representation is a "wind of change." From the published letters of John XXIII. and it is apparent that significant figures of the later Council, including Milan's Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, the future successor as Pope Paul VI., or the then auxiliary bishop of Malines, Leo Joseph Suenens, later Erzbsichof of Malines-Brussels and Cardinal, were neither surprised nor irritated by the convening of the council. Instead, they dealt in direct contact with the Pope and considered the issue of the council's alignment, where it would lead and by language it should be driven. Montini and Suenens were driven by a "fire", says Capovilla, by which he was convinced that "God has kindled this fire."  There were then "many" that tried "to smother the fire," said the Pope's secretary.

Thus, the large framework is already outlined by Capovilla of a certain conciliar transfiguration which affected also and especially the figure of the Pope John XXIII. who desired an "aggiornamento" that the Roman Curia and other forces in the church wanted to prevent. Capovilla's language, there  were "the old vultures who return after a first fright," as he confided to his diary.

Pope Francis and Capovilla recte John XXIII.

The aged Capovilla became quiet under Pope Benedict XVI. This changed with the election of Pope Francis. Less than three weeks after his election, Pope Francis grabbed the phone and called Capovilla on 1 April, 2013. He told the 97-year-old he wanted to meet him. He should come to Rome. Capovilla had last been to Rome for the beatification of John XXIII in the year 2000.

There was much speculation about the background of the Pope's interest. He was invited in connection with the Third Secret of Fatima, to provide information that  Francis had wanted. It was more likely  that the new pope wanted to signal his connection to John XXIII in the person of Capovillas.  This was to weave the image of a "second" John XXIII., which was seen by some as a message to progressive Church circles, who would bring the full implementation of the Council  through the pontificates of John Paul II. and Benedict XVI.

Capovilla is associated with the Marian apparitions of Fatima, because he had not only knowledge of the Third Secret as Pope's secretary, but for publishing documents of John XXIII. and Paul VI. which revealed inconsistencies in the official Vatican version. [LOL]

Saints and Church Policy

Cardinal Loris Capovilla (1915-2016)

On February 22, 2014 Capovilla was raised by Pope Francis in the state of Cardinal. Two months later, the canonization of John XXIII. It was a canonization which is considered controversial because Pope Francis  implemented it by overriding the conditions for a canonization. A requisite second miracle is still lacking for the canonization of the Council's Pope.

On April 27, 2014 was canonized from Pope John Paul II.. For the Polish Pope a decent canonization process was completed and the second miracle recognized.

It is an open secret in Rome  that Pope Francis felt that the canonization Karol Wojtyla came very inconveniently at the beginning of his pontificate. It would give the impression of continuity that Francis wanted to avoid. The Argentine pope sent a plurality of signals after his election, connecting him to the pontificate of John XXIII.  and overcoming the impression of  the Polish-German double pontificate of 1978-2013, which is decried by progressives decried as a "restorative phase."

To. "Neutralize" the inevitable canonization of John Paul II and yet of being able to send out "right" signal, he decreed with papal authority, at the same time, to raise John XXIII. to the altars. That his canonization process was not yet completed and lacked the necessary miracle, Francis passed autocratically. The double-canonization has since been considered a self-evident example of a dubious church policy. Francis is also criticized for doing a disservice to the veneration of saints and canonization practice of the Catholic Church, which has been criticized from the Protestant and secular sides.

The former neo-Cardinal Loris Capovilla, however, was impressed by the Pope's affection.

Last orders for the funeral

After his death Capovillas' last wishes were announced for the funeral yesterday.

"I want to go in silence, as I came into the world without applause and without sensation. My body will be laid in the Camaitino Chapel. Only a ceremony for the closest friends and for the faithful who were close to me in many years. The Mass is to be celebrated  by priests friendly to me priests in the  morning, companions of my whole life. After the celebration of the procession to the cemetery should pass by Fontalla where Maria Davide Turoldo is buried, one of the great poets, which the Catholic Church has had. No public celebration. If desired, a Mass can be read to my benefit, but only after my mortal remains have been placed in the earth."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Secretum meum mihi / Avvenire

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG