Customer Reviews

John XXIII: Pope of the Century

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The peasant child who would be Pope...each stage of John XXIII's life recalled in a well directed manner, including some little known facts that were most interesting. His great devotion not only to God and his Church, but to mankind as well, revealed in profound ways. I was surprised that this simple, humble servant of the Lord was also a brilliant man with eloquence of speech and a compassion that reached across all walks of life and left its mark on humanity. An enigma who was at once a traditionalist with a passion for history, and also a reformer of the Church, with a keen sense of what was necessary to meet the demands of his modern day flock. Despite his elevated office, he remained a man who loved to talk to all peoples, and held in his heart a very special place for the downtrodden, the poor.His relationships with his family members were especially endearing.Most interesting was his role with the Jewish people during their darkest days.I could not put this book down! If my memories of Pope John from my childhood always seemed to touch my heart, my knowledge of him now has truly captured it! A gift from God whose Blessed presence in our world remains enduring. A must read for those interested in the Papacy, the Vatican, or simply a tender and exquisite story of one man's journey of Love. My deep thanks to the late author, Peter Hebblethwaite, and his wife Margaret for this gem!

This is the best book about John XXIII I have ever read. I read a biography about every Pope since 1846, and this was the best one. John XXIII was a saint, and this book clearly shows it.

Peter Hebblethwaite provides a condensed biography of Pope John XXIII Here, he describes John's life as he spent the vast majority serving in the Vatican Diplomatic corp, where he was a representative in the countries of Bulgaria and Turkey where Catholics were a small minority. In his final diplomatic position, he was assigned to France, with a totally secular government, most of whom were of Marxist bent. It is in these years that Msgr, Bishop and then Archbishop Roncalli encountered the world so distant from the Vatican Curia. He was well known in Roman circles due to his earlier relationship as an aid to Pius XII. That is when he began a lifelong friendship with Giovanni Battista Montini, his successor. Many of those in attendance at the 1958 Conclave wherein John was elected, wished that Montini had not been overlooked by Pius and had been a Cardinal.

A very detailed description is given of his pontificate, from the election conclave to his untimely death. Having been elected as a transitional "seat warmer" Pope, his decision within the first 3 months of his reign to call the council he called Vatican 2 to update the church's presentation of its doctrines and public image was his overwhelming achievement. The inner workings of the Vatican curia are given less emphasis, but the effort to thwart his convening the council is well documented.

Hebblethwaite gives great color to the majesty of the papacy of John, as well as the humility, holiness and genuine goodness which affected his relationships so well. People described the joy and friendship upon meeting him even for the first time. He worked carefully yet with determination to develop closer ties with the Communist regimes of Europe and China. His greatest diplomatic success was when the Russians allowed representatives of the Orthodox Church of Russia to come to the council as observers. He worked his will through foreseeing the obstacles that the traditionalists of the church curia were presenting and planning intricately to work around obstacles and allow the pattern of his council to work itself out on a larger scale. He was not the micro-manager of Montini, but he was a manager and watched from his apartment all the televised meetings of the council with active engagement.

In many ways Hebblethwaite presents John as a transitional pope, but not a care-taker. He is the definite link between the formality of Pius XII's reign and the disciplined but much less formal reign of his successor. This book is well worth the read. Anyone interested in how the Catholic Church broke away from its moribund state at the death of Pius to be the extraordinary heady energetic period during the sixties to the early eighties should take the time to enjoy this well written and engaging work about a truly inspirational man.