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Archdiocese of Atlanta IN MEMORY OF POPE JOHN XXIII BULLETIN SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES I VOL. 1 NO. SPECIAL EDITION ATLANTA, GEORGIA MONDAY JUNE 3, 1963 $5.00 PER YEAR Pop e John Old In Years, Young In Spirit He Pushed Church Into 20th Century John Will, old in years, young in spirit, will be remem bered as the Pope who pushed the Catholic Church squarely into the 20th century. As “the universal shepherd" — a title in which he took special pnde- he set the stage for far-reach ing adjustments in the Church's life and stance designed to cope with the revolutionary scien tific, political, social and eco nomic changes sweeping the modern world. An intuitive judge of man kind's hopes and needs, Pope John meanwhile did more than any man of his time to heal the wounds of a divided Chistendom. THE GREAT, overshadowing event of his pontificate was the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (first in 100 years). Convened primarily to bring about an inner renewal of the Catholic Church in the light of modern needs, it was intended as well to further the cause of Christian unity. From it came a surge of mutual goodwill and understanding between Catho lics and other Christians un paralleled since Reformation times. Two other accomplishments helped to place the mark of gre atness on the reign of the hum anitarian John XX111. One was his social enclyclical, Mater et Magistra, which set forth Christian solutions for the com plex political, social and eco nomic problems of the new age. The second was the encyclical Pacem in Terris (first ever addressed to non-Cutholics as well as Catholics) which em bodied a brilliant and challen ging codification of the Church's teachings in the field of inter national peace. Both encyclicals made front page news in all parts of the world and won enthusiastic pr aise from leaders of all faiths. Even Communists on both sides of the Iron Curtain joined in welcoming the Pope's call in Pacem in Terris for disarma ment and a nuclear test ban, although conspicuously ignoring his remarks on freedom and human rights. Commenting on the encyclical, President Ken nedy told the American people: “As a Catholic, 1 am proud of it; as an American I have learn ed from it." HIS personal charm made Pope John perhaps the most universally beloved pontiff of all time. With his human warmth and genial good humor, he com bined a humility and plaincom- monsense that won universal respect ami admiration. His many audiences to leaders of other faiths —Protestants, Ea stern Orthodox, Jews, Mos lems, Buddhists, and others — were extraordinary in themsel ves. But they were also power ful factors in underscoring the Pope's frequent insistence on the brotherhood of all men un der God, and in putting a tru ly ecumenical stamp on his pontificate. A United Church of Canada editor called him “the best Pope the Protestants ever had." Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, top figure in Eas tern Orthodoxy ,publically hailed him as a “brother.” And no less a personage than Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev astounded the world by sending him greetings on his 80th birth day in 1961, Pope John himself astonished the world in March, 1963, by granting a private audience to Premier Khrushchev's athiest son-in-law, Alexei Adzhubei. This was after the Pope was formerly notified he had been named to receive the 1963 Bal- zan Foundation Peace Award. When it was reported that Mr. Adzhubei had suggested the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations between the Kremlin and the Vatican, complaints were heard in some quarters that the Pope was go ing “soft" on communism. But this suggestion was vigorously repudiated by Vatican authori ties, who pointed to the forth right condemnations of comm unism in many of Pope John’s utterances. His first encycli cal repeated condemnations of communism made by his pre decessors, Pius XI and Xll, and contained a strong appeal l\' A i POPE John greets Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan four weeks ago in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. for prayers for the persecutei. Church in the Red-ruled coun tries. Nevertheless at the core o Pope John’s thinking was th ? realization that in the thermo nuclear age men must learn to live together lest they perish in a universal inferno. He made it clear that this meant nego tiation, mutual concession ane, an understanding of the com mon interests that unite all men. THE most accessible, not to mention tradition - shattering, figure ever to occupy the Chair of Peter, JohnXXlll was, more over a Pope of Paradox. The paradox was in a man of advanced age (76 at the time of his election) infusing into the papacy a youthful vigor and dynamic initiative that amazet and even startled observers at times. For pace and drama, there were few pontificates of modern times that could out match that of John XX111. A testimony to his impact on the world was his nomination by the editors of Time magazine as its “Man of the Year" in 1962. When the son of a humble Ber gamo farmers was elected as the 260th successor of St. Pe ter, he turned what many had thought would be a mere care taker papacy into a perpetually headline-making one. Only mo nths after his coronation, he electrified the world not only by announcing he was planning to summon an Ecumenical Cou ncil, but by creating a new Vat ican body — the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity - that was to help immeasurably in tearing down the wall of con fessional isolation, not to men tion distrust and suspician, that had existed between Rome and the rest of Christendom during the post-Reformation centuri es. THE council, the Pope de clared in his first encyclical letter, “will be a wonderful spectacle of truth, unity and charity. For those who behold it, but who are not one with this Apostolic See, we hope that it will be a gentle invitation to seek that unity for which Je sus Christ prayed so ardently to His Father in Heaven." Pope John lacked the encyc lopedic culture of his immed iate predecessor, Pius Xll. He did not have his phenomenal memory, his extraordinary lin guistic ability, his stately dig nity, his aristocratic bearing. He was not an ascetic like Pius, nor did he have the same ama zing capacity for work. Fur thermore, although a scholar in his own right (he was the author, among other works, of a six volume commentary on the life of St. Charles Borro- meo, his favorite saint) he did not command the same bril liant style in writing or the same oratorical skill. Nevertheless, the new Pope was to be heard speaking as frequently as his predecessor, if in a less technical and more personal vein. His talks were often interspersed with autobio graphical remarks and marked by a warm and deep human in- derstanding. A Pope who made no secret of his love of people, he was never at a loss for the (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) Archbishop’s Statement The news of Pope John’s death leaves the world saddened, and the Church be reaved. For this beloved father spoke not only to us, his children, but to all men because he loved the whole human family. His thoughts were never narrow and doc- trinnaire; they stretched out to all the con fusing issues of a weary world. His heart beat not only for the anxieties of Catho lics, but for the longings of men of every religion. As Catholics of the Archdiocese of At lanta, we gratefully note the prayers of men of every faith, especially of the Pro testant, Orthodox and Jewish bodies of our community. To these prayers we add our own petition, sadly but confidently, that this man from God, whose name was John, is now with God, his great heart resting in heavenly love. We are all richer, and our world is fresher, because of the four and a half short years that he was Pope. He sought, not power, but understanding; not pride, but love; not pomp, but respect. He left a pat tern of humility not only for prelates, but for princes and presidents, scholars and scientists, parents and pastors. He lived to the full the exact meaning of the word, “Catholic - universal, comprehensive, embracing the world.’* Dead Last Plea For Peace ROME, June 3— Pope John XXIII is dead. He died at 1:49 P.M. Eastern Standard time in the austere surroundings of the Papal bedroom. With the Pontiff as his life ebbed away were his three brothers and his sister, all who had flown from their home in Northern +++++++++++++++++++++++ Official A Pontifical Requiem Mass will be offered for Pope John XXIII at the Cathedral of Christ the King at 6:30 P. M. on Wednes day, June 5. The faithful of the Archdiocese are invited to at tend. The Office of the Dead (new Psalter) will be chanted at 6:00 P. M. In each parish, a Requiem Mass for the Pope should be ar ranged at a convenient time. The Imperata, Pro Defuncto Summa Pontifice, is to be said for seven days. All churches are to be in mourning during this period. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Italy. They had arrived Friday after the Pope's condition had taken a turn for the worse. His collapse came after he had first rallied almost miracul ously from a stomach cancer which had resulted from continual hemorrhages. Among his last recorded words were: "I give my life for the Council, for the Church, and for peace." His doctors had kept the bedside vigil since Friday and had marvelled at the fortitude of the 81 year old Pontiff who, despite intense suffering, showed a serenity and peace of mind which brought tears to his relatives and ecclesistical collabroators. Pain relieving drugs had been administered intermittently until this morning when he sank into a deep coma and expired in the shade of a Rome evening. Messages of condolence were received from leaders all over the world, including President John F. Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev of the Soviet Union. The Vatican also received thousands of telegrams from ordinary people throughout the world of all faiths, who considered Pope John the leader in the fight for world peace and Christian unity. More than 100,000 persons crowded into St. Peter’s Square shortly before the announcement of the Pope's death. A Mass was being offered on the steps of the Basilica as the Pope lay dying. A great pontificate has ended. Pope John XXI11 is dead in the (82nd) year of his life and the (fifth) year of his regin. Never was a pontiff more widely mourned. Bom Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Sotto 11 Monte (Under the Mountain) in northern Italy on Noverber 25, 1881, this eldest son and third of 13 children bora of a poor farmer was called to range the continent of Europe in important service of the Church before he was chosen to fill the Chair of Peter on Oct ober 28, 1958. ALMOST 77 years old at the time of his election, this 260th successor to St. Peter, it was freely said, would be a “care taker" pontiff. That is, he would innovate little, disturb little, chiefly keep the status quo for a successor who would have a longer life expectancy. As it turned out, the pontificate of John XXIII was one of the most eventful in the nearly 2,000 years of the Church's history. He upset precedents, made innovations, revived customs long unused. He literally captured the imagination, and to a very large extent the affection, of the world. No other pontiff was ever listened to so attentively by non-Catholics. Born of an obscurepeasantfamily, inanobscure place, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli became a teacher, a preacher, an adminis trator, a soldier in the ranks of the Italian army, a priest, a chaplain, a bishop, a diplomat admired in sophisticated capitals, cardinal patriarch, a pope., He served the Church for more than 60 years, but after his ordination he spent very little time in Rome until he became pope. ALWAYS one to get things done, to accomplish weighty and intricate tasks with great simplicity, he became a whirlwind of activity once he received the triple tiara of the papacy. Here are highlights of his reign: He (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)