By Deacon Gregory M. Kirk
Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Galion
This past Sunday, the Roman Catholic Church canonized two new Saints, both Popes: Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. Most readers are very familiar with John Paul II, his witness to the Gospel of Christ, and his face off against Soviet communism that helped result in its collapse. Many will be uncertain about who John XXIII was since he died in 1963. I hope this helps people become familiar with John – he was a friend of humanity.
John was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881 in the Lombardi region of Italy. He was the fourth of fourteen children. He grew up in poverty, the son of sharecropper farmers. He was ordained a priest in 1904, and quickly rose in service through many posts to become a papal nuncio (Vatican representative) in many foreign countries because of his outgoing nature and his capabilities as an administrator.
Most Catholics will remember John as the Pope who convened Vatican Council II and thus restored the liturgy to the vernacular and empowered the Laity to resume their rightful ministry in the Church. While I admire John for this courageous action that witnessed the Holy Spirit breathing new life into the Church, I will always most admire and love him for his protection of European Jews during World War II.
John’s credo was, “We were all made in God’s image, and thus, we are all Godly alike.” John preached these words, and he consistently lived them out. As papal nuncio in the countries of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey during World War II, John saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jewish men, women and children. Discovery by the Nazis would have meant certain arrest, and likely death. Nevertheless, John approved the production and distribution of tens of thousands of fake baptismal certificates that spared thousands of Jews unspeakable death in Nazi concentration camps. John daringly wrote a letter to the King of Bulgaria, on behalf of the Jews in that nation that included the sentence, “On no account should Bulgaria agree with the horrific and dishonorable demand of the Nazis.” John went further and threatened Bulgaria’s leader with the punishment of God if he cooperated in genocide. King Boris III sided with John and Jewish lives were saved. John was also instrumental in obtaining tens of thousands of visas for European Jews so they could emigrate to Palestine. How appropriate that when the first group of Jews entered the Vatican to attend the opening of Vatican II in 1962, John personally welcomed them, physically opening his arms and declaring, “welcome, I am Joseph, your brother.”
Down to earth, simple, humble, witty, humorous, and a great lover of Christ and His people, one can see John in our present Pope Francis, unless I’m mistaken. Regarding John’s playful sense of humor, I have always loved his quip to a visitor to Rome who inquired, “Your holiness, how many people work in the Vatican?” John smiled, his eyes twinkled and he responded, “About half of them!”
Today, I once again embrace John’s words, “Human life is sacred, all men must recognize that fact. From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.” Well done beloved John. From a humble abode and as the child of poor farmers, you rose to become the “father of the Church,” the actual definition of pope. Truly the servant of Christ, your light still shines and shows all men and women what human beings are capable of, when they hope and believe in the living, risen Christ.