Angelo Roncalli and Priestly Celibacy | Fr. Brian Van Hove, S.J. | Ignatius Insight
Since his death on June 3,
1963, many biographies and studies of Pope John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli) have
appeared. In the month of his death was the article of Roger Aubert, "Jean
XXIII: Un 'pape de transition' qui marquera dans l'histoire". The same year,
and revised in 1981, is Leone Algisi's John the Twenty-Third / Giovanni
XXIII. In 1965 there appeared that
of Edward Elton Young Hales, Pope John and His Revolution. In 1973 Pope John XXIII by Paul Johnson, and in 1979 Bernard R. Bonnot's Pope
John XXIII: An Astute, Pastoral Leader.
We are told the writer who
had access to the greatest quantity of primary, original sources is Peter
Hebblethwaite. In 1984 the British edition of his John XXIII: Pope of the
Council appeared, and in 1985 the
American version was published as Pope John XXIII: Shepherd of the Modern
World. [1] The Hebblethwaite
contribution is considered the "definitive" biography. It was reprinted in
1994. In 2000 and 2005 it was reprinted in a revised and abridged edition by
Margaret Hebblethwaite, Peter Hebblethwaite's wife whom he married after
leaving the priesthood and the Society of Jesus.
Read the entire article...
Good essay. Thx for posting it.
Posted by: Ed Peters | Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 07:34 AM
I hate the "Good Pope John" [nonsense]. And certainly not because I dislike the Holy Father. It's used as a club against his predecessors and successors, and I have no doubt he himself would strongly chastize the not-so-subtle Modernists who employ it.
My aunt frequently says she dislikes Benedict XVI (and John Paul the Great for that matter) and wished Blessed John XXIII was always pope. I usually bite my tongue for the sake of peaceful family functions, but I look forward to pointing out what exactly a perpetual John XXIII papacy would have meant: the continued use of the Tridentine Mass as the universal and ordinary form of the Roman Rite. My God, how she hates that Mass.
Posted by: Thomas | Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 01:40 PM