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| Good Pope John |
(Rome) John XXIII., the Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council and is to be canonized without a miracle in a few days by Pope Francis. He was commonly known in the collective memory as the "good" and "sweet-natured" Pope . In contrast, his personal secretary Loris Capovilla is protesting: "Please, don't call him the good-natured Pope. '"
Capovilla's Elevation to Cardinal in Honor of the Council
Monsignor Loris Capovilla was the personal secretary of John XXIII. during his pontificate. This past February 22nd, Pope Francis made him a cardinal. Capovilla, born in 1915, has become since then the oldest living Cardinal.
He's been 50 years fighting against this appellation of John XXIII., as the "Good Pope" or "sweet-natured Pope," Cardinal Capovilla has been giving a few interviews for the canonization of Pope Roncalli. The figure of John XXIII. says Capovilla, is being overwhelmed by this "good nature", said Capovilla, because Pope Roncalli was "very determined" and had been primarily "for the Church and the world and peace, of great importance. His greatest importance is connected to the Second Vatican Council," said Capovilla in the newspaper Eco di Bergamo.
Johannes XXIV. oder Franziskus?
Again the almost century-old cardinal insisted with particular emphasis, on the similarity between John XXIII. and Pope Francis. Francis reminds people "very" much of Pope Roncalli, says Capovilla. The Argentine cardinal had wanted to call himself for a moment even John XXIV. "Pope Francis and John are very similar. Cardinal Bergoglio had thought to take the name John. He wanted to be the successor of John XXIII. But he also thought of Francis. Then he spoke to the Brazilian Cardinal Damasceno and advised him to adopt a name that speaks for the poor and of poverty. So Bergoglio has opted for Francis. But Pope John was in his thoughts."
Canonizations as Motivated by Church Politics?
Pope Francis, it can also be said, that he very rarely mentions the turning point in history of the Second Vatican Council is a point of distinction. This includes the collection of Cardinal Loris Capovilla on February 22, whose merit it is mainly to have been the secretary of John XXIII. and to have been a tireless exponent of the "epochal significance" of Vatican II. This primarily involves the canonization of John XXIII. on April 27, bypassing the canonically prescribed standards. Two events with which Pope Francis contends in the large intra-church conflict, on the one hand John XXIII and Paul VI., on the other hand, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The canonization of John XXIII. is ultimately a product of chance in internal Church circles, which is directly related to the canonization of John Paul II.
The no Longer Preventable Raising of John Paul II to the Altars
Shortly after Cardinal Bergoglio was elected Pope, the Congregation of Saints convened on the 2nd of July, 2013 to acknowledge the miracle that paved the way for the canonization of the Polish Pope. The schedule was at the time of the election already fixed. This was only a formality, since the examination and approval of the miracle had already taken place by both medical as well as theological side. Thus, it was clear that the canonization would take place within a year. Only an administrative act by the new pope, would have been able to prevent what would, however, his opposition in substantial parts of the church, and not only of Poland would have been introduced with the John Paul II as a reference point. The idea that he of all people should raise John Paul II to the altars is a visible gain in the validity of his understanding of the Church seems not to have been savored by the Argentine Pope.
Causa Johannes XXIII.: Neutralize the "Poles" Canonize the Council
So Pope Francis quickly placed it on the agenda of the Congregation of Saints. However, there is for the Roncalli Pope to date, no recognized miracle. When Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to Pope Francis went to tell him the decision of the Congregation on the Polish Pope, John Paul II, the new pope also unexpectedly decided to canonize the Council Pope.
How this could happen without a miracle, has been rather met with an ashamed silence in Rome. The official media of the Holy See has never broached the subject and most accredited to the Vatican press journalists have somewhat averted both eyes, because it is the "sweet-natured Pope", who, after all, convened the Council.
Both large Postconciliar "Souls" of the Church Equal? – Only Superficially
On 27 April, in a sense, both big "souls" of the Catholic Church, who represented a contrasting understanding of the Church since the Council, are raised to the altars. Thus the impression. The sarting point, however, was that the canonization of John Paul II was already too advanced at the time of the election of Pope Francis to put it on the back burner still. However, for Pius IX und Pius XII. and Pius XII. this has been the case for decades. The beatification of Pius IX. in 2000 had become possible only in a church-political maneuver. It was wrested in return for the beatification of John XXIII.
The double canonization of popes on April 27, 2014 will go down in the first place as an object lesson ecclesiastically politically motivated decisions in the history of the Church.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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