Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6—THE BULLETIN, December 12. 1959
"Say It With Ours"
OUR NEW
HADDEN S FLOWERS
and GIFTS
Telephone HE. 5-8374 P. O. Box 1980
1150 S. Slappey Dr.
Albany, Georgia
Griffin Motor Co.
RAMBLER METROPOLITAN
928 Highland Avenue
Albany, Georgia
D. W. GARRISON
IDEAL HEATING &
PLUMBING CO.
"CONSCIENTIOUS SERVICE"
107 FLINT AVE. — P. O. BOX 82 — PHONE 6-1584
ALBANY, GEORGIA
From: POPE JOHN XXIII: An Authoritative Biography by
Zsolt Aradi, Msgr. James I. Tucek and James C. O'Neill. Copy
right, 1959, by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, Inc., Publishers.
PART XIII
FROM VENICE TO
THE VATICAN
A routine day dawned for the
Patriarch of Venice on Monday,
September 29, 1958: routine but
one of the most significant in
the life of Angelo Roncalli.
He knew from his morning
prayers, his recitation of the
Breviary for the feast of Mich
ael the Archangel, from his
meditation and celebration of
Mass that the hand of God
would this day, as on all days,
move all things.
But this day, more than any
other, the hand of God would
move particularly in his regard.
Four hundred miles away, at
Castelgandolfo near Rome, un
known to Cardinal Roncalli, the
hand of God was setting the
small beginnings to a drama
that would continue quietly for
a while and within days would
burst with full impact upon the
consciousness of the world.
On this morning His Holiness
Pope Pius XII suffered a recur
rence of the attack of hiccups
which had almost taken his life
four years previous.
Pope Pius was now an older
man, overworked and weaker
than he was in 1954, when the
first attack came. At first there
was not a great deal said. Per
haps, it was thought, that this
WELCOME VISITORS
OPEN 7 DAYS
We Raise Our Own
Birds
GUARANTEED
TALKERS
We Board Birds
CAGES — FOODS
MEDICINES
ALL SUPPLIES
RABBITS
FLYING SQUIRRELS &
OTHER SMALL PETS
POplar 1-2261
Whispering Pines
Bird Farm
Hwy. 85 Off 41 S. at Howard Johnson’s
would be a brief attack which
would go away like the others.
DEATH COMES FOR
POPE PIUS
The next day the news was
released by one of the interna
tional news wire services. At
tempts were made by other ag
encies to confirm the report un
derstandably met with little
success. This was not time for
alarmism.
The Pope’s doctors had tried
to cut down on the number of
audiences but the Holy Father
ignored their pleas. The 82-
year-old Pontiff had never dur
ing his life enjoyed robust
health. But in his late years he
had amazed everyone with his
driving energy and his killing
schedule of work.
Now it appeared that his
strong will power was stub
bornly driving his tired body
on and on. He seemed to refuse
to recognize how sick he really
was. On October 6th he suffer
ed a “cerebral circulatory dis
turbance.” The next day he
seemed to rally but on October
8th he suffered a second attack.
During the hours that follow
ed and until his death on Thurs
day morning at 3:52 a. m., he
remained totally unconscious.
In Venice, Cardinal Roncalli
was alterted to the seriousness
of the Pope’s condition when
the Patriarchal residence re
ceived a telephone call from the
Vatican trying to trace Venetian
specialist Dr. Antonio Gasbar-
rini. When he became Pope,
Cardinal Roncalli appointed Dr.
Gasbarrini as his personal phy
sician.
With the death of a pope,
the College of Cardinals be
comes the main government of
the Church, although they may
not do anything that would in
fringe on the authority of the
new pope.
Angelo Roncalli came to
Rome on October 12th. He took
up residence at Domus Maria,
a religious-operated hospice for
pilgrims in Rome. He -took part
in the daily meetings of the
Cardinals and in the nine-day
official mourning period for the
dead pontiff.
In a letter written to the rec
tor of the minor seminary at
Venice, Cardinal Roncalli said:
“I will then say that the
strongest impression of my first
day in Rome was upon seeing
the waxen face of the Holy Fa
ther, stretched out on the cata
falque in St. Peter’s before the
white silk veil hid him forever
from the eyes of mortals.
“What is life worth if one is
concerned only with appearanc
es? Comfort comes not to the
eyes but to the spirit which fol
lows that great and luminous
spirit (of the dead Pontiff) into
the land of the living. It is there
that we must ever direct our
minds, where the light never
fails.
. . As for the dead Pope
assumed into glory, there re
mains only to continue the ac
clamation “Viva il Papa” and to
pray that his successor, who
ever he may be, does not rep
resent a solution of continuity,
but progress in following the
perennial youth of the Holy
Church. , .”
DEATH COMES FOR
TWO CARDINALS
By Thursday, October 16th, a
week, after the death of Pius
XII, 45 of the 55 living members
of the College of Cardinals were
in Rome or in its vicinity. The
Conclave was scheduled to start
on October 25th.
On October 17th, Celso Card
inal Costantini, the Chancellor
of the Holy Roman Church, died
of a heart collapse. The very
day the Conclave began, an
other Prince of the Church died.
He was Edward Cardinal Moon
ey, Archbishop of Detroit, who
died at the North American
College in Rome after a lunch
eon with his brother cardinals
of New York and Los Angeles.
The guessing game of “pap-
abili” — likely candidates for
the papacy — had been a sea
sonable past time during the last
years of Pope Pius’ reign. After
his death it became almost an
international guessing game.
The press indulged heavily in
speculating on who might be
elected pope, what kind of a
man he would be. Said the
Rome daily Giornale d’ltalia,
of Cardinal Roncalli: “He is the
candidate of the French Card
inals: Roncalli, if elected, will
call himself Pius XIII.’”
In general the Italian press,
followed by the world press, di
vided the Cardinals into two
groups: the “Pacelliani” or the
more conservative sector, con
sisting of Cardinals who had
been seminarians contemporary
with Pius XII. The other section
was termed “Montiniani,” those
characterized by more advanc
ed and modern thinking, who
received their name from the
supposed tendencies of Arch
bishop Giovanni B. Montini of
Milan.
The monarchist weekly, Oggi,
divided the Cardinals into
right wing, left wing and cen
ter.”
In the speculation there was
also much said about a “trans
ition Pope,” a conservative of
advanced age and therefore of
short reign who would fill the
vacancies in the College of
Cardinals and serve as a bridge
between two longer and more
active reigns.
Most often mentioned in this
category were Cardinals Aloisi
Masella and Roncalli. Newspa
pers in general gave as the
Italian “papabili” Cardinal Siri,
Lercaro, Ottaviani, Aloisi Mas
ella, Ruffini, Roncalli, and Mim-
mi.
II Messaggero of Rome said:
“Roncalli is the most probable
because he has never shown any
very definite leaning towards
groups. He is acquainted with
the problems of international
affairs and at 77 is the right
age . . .”
The independent weekly
Epoca estimated Cardinal Ron
calli as “the youngest of the
old” and said he “has excellent
diplomatic experience in his fa
vor as a result of his connec
tion with the nunciatures in the
Balkans and in Paris.”
Of all this speculation, L’Os-
servatore Romano, the Vatican
City daily, exhorted newsmen
“not to insist on the oldest and
most offensive prejudice, ac
cording to which it is said that
there will come out of the Con
clave, not so much the new Vi
car of Christ . . . but the head
or the political maneuverer of
party currents, of factions in
the parties . . .”
A PRESENTIMENT?
It was during the Pre-Con
clave preparations that the pa
pal physician Dr. Galeazzi-Lisi
was reprimanded by the Vati
can officials for making dis
closures to the press of the inti
mate life and last illness of the
Pope. At the same time his pub-
Greetings And
Best Wishes From
MIDTOWN
LANES
vp’ Jjjfc % % ■ r if< e
Best Wishes
PATCH POTTERY
AND NURSERY
HAND MADE POTTERY
SHRUBBERY
THE WEATHERLYS, LEESBURB, GEORGIA
Telephone: Albany, HE. 6-2122
lication of pictures and graphic
accounts of the pope’s death
were investigated by the Rome
Medical Association. He was ex
pelled but a court later ruled
that the evidence against him
must be reviewed.
About this time Cardinal
Roncalli was writing to Arch
bishop Montini in Milan. In his
letter, written from Rome, he
described the coming Conclave
in which he would take part as
“a test of very serious ecclesi
astical responsibility.”
“I have a great need,” he
wrote, “of the help of the
saints. Therefore, I apply to
one who is very near to the
saints of my special devotion
(buried in Milan) . . . Recom
mend my soul to St. Ambrose
and St. Charles Borromeo.”
On the day before entering
the Conclave he wrote another
letter, this one to his friend
Bishop Piazzi of Bergamo. The
text seems to betray a pre
sentiment. He wrote:
“One point about my en
trance into the Conclave: it is
like an invocation which I make
to everything dearest to_ my
heart as a good Bergamasco. As
I recall the many venerated
and beloved images of Mary in
all the dioceses, with them
memory of our patron saints,
the bishops, the illustrious and
saintly priests, the men and
women Religious of outstanding
virtue — as I recall all these,
my mind is comforted with the
confidence in the new Pente
cost which will enable us to
give new vigor to the victory of
truth, to what is good and to
peace through t-he renewal of
the Head and the reconstruction
of the ecclesiastic body.
“It matters little whether the
new Pope is or is not from the
Bergamo region. The common
prayers will achieve that he be
a wise and gentle leader, that
he be a saint and a sancti
fier . . .”
THE 78TH CONCLAVE
Saturday, October 25th, 51
Cardinals were assembled to
begin the 78th Conclave of the
Catholic Church. It was Card
inal Roncalli’s first Conclave as
indeed it was for most of his
brother-Cardinals. Only 13 of
them had entered a Conclave
before.
What transpired after the sin-
SLAPPEY'S DAIRY
Kids Love Slappey’s Milk
SOUTH SLAPPEY DRIVE
PHONE HE. 2-7643
"SERVING ALBANY FOR OVER 40 YEARS"
ALBANY, GEORGIA
RHODES, Inc.
FURNITURE
gle door of the Conclave was
locked one can only guess. Only
the participating Cardinals
themselves could know how the
voting went and they are sworn
solemnly to secrecy.
One may only construct the
picture from the documents
governing the order of proce
dure. The rest will be known
only after many, many years
when it may happen that the
records of the Conclave are re
leased to historians.
Cardinal Roncalli and his 51-
brother Cardinals rose early
each morning to offer Mass.
Breakfast was completed in
time to enter the Sistine Chapel
at 9:30. After attending a Mass
of the Holy Ghost and casting
two ballots, they retired for
lunch and returned to the Chap
el at 4:00 p. m. for another
two ballots.
No one was present in the
Chapel during the actual vot
ing except the Cardinals and
the few official assistants as
signed by the laws governing
the conduct of the Conclave.
When the afternoon balloting
was finished around 6:00 the
Cardinals retired to their rooms
to prepare for dinner. The room
which had been assigned to
Cardinal Roncalli was that nor
mally reserved to the chief of
Noble Guards. On the wall of
the room hung a sign: “II Com-
mendante” — The Commander.
(Next issue: I Shall Be Called
John)
Services For
Mrs. Ryan
SAVANNAH—Funeral serv
ices for Mrs. Mary Altick Ryan
will, be held November 23rd at
the Cathedral of St. John the
Baptist.
Survivors are a daughter,
Mrs. W. H. Mahany of Sanford,
Fla.; two sisters, Miss - Angela
Altick and Miss Ida Altick, both
of Savannah; two brothers,
Harry R. Altick of Phoenix,
Ariz., and Daniel A. Altick of
Monroe, La.; an Aunt, Miss
Josephine M. O’Bryne, four
grandchildren and several
nieces and nephews.
Some men are geniuses at
makng excuses, but lack the
ability to make them fit.
Jackson Street At Pine
Albany, Georgia
ALBANY, GA.
JOHN LORENZ, MANAGER
REINFORCING STEEL METAL SASH
STEEL CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES
GARGANO'S
New Expressway Near 5 Points
JOE BRASHEARS
STEEL, Inc.
P. O. BOX 686 PHONE HE. 5-5237
Italian-American Restaurant
SPECIALIZING IN
★ PIZZAS
And
★ SPAGHETTI
ALBANY, GEORGIA