November 2025 – Page 62 – Antipope John XXIII

A traditional Catholic priest in a church with old film reel reflecting moral dangers of cinema in Nostra Patris 1961.

Nostra Patris (1961.06.29)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The document “Nostra Patris” (29 June 1961), issued by antipope John XXIII to Martin John O’Connor as head of the Pontifical Commission for Cinema, Radio and Television, commemorates 25 years since Pius XI’s “Vigilanti cura.” It praises the potential of cinema, warns (moderately) against its moral dangers, commends episcopal and lay initiatives for classification and oversight, and urges Catholics to shape film culture through criticism, education, and cooperation with ecclesiastical “authorities” and experts.

A traditional Catholic study with antipope John XXIII's letter to Cardinal Tisserant, highlighting earthly honors over spiritual values.

Letters

A A A ES – La Ioannes XXIII’s Cult of Humanist Prestige (1961.06.15)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated June 15, 1961, antipope John XXIII congratulates Eugène Tisserant on the fiftieth anniversary of his elevation to the red hat by Pius XI, lauding his erudition, his work as Prefect of the Apostolic Library, his role in the Eastern Churches’ dicastery, and his admission to the Académie Française. The whole text is a polished homage to human learning, diplomatic service, and institutional prestige, culminating in a generic blessing.

A reverent depiction of a traditional Catholic library with Anselmo Albareda, O.S.B., highlighting the contrast between true Catholic doctrine and the naturalistic humanism promoted by John XXIII.

Letters

Quinque implenti (1961.06.12)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The Latin letter “Quinque implenti,” dated 12 June 1961 and signed by John XXIII, praises Anselmo Albareda, O.S.B., on the 25th anniversary of his appointment as Prefect of the Vatican Library. The text commends Albareda’s diligence, organizational work, expansion of collections, promotion of scholarly editions, and portrays the Library as a serene temple of wisdom radiating “Christian humanism.” It culminates in an exhortation to persevere in study and Benedictine observance, with an Apostolic Blessing for Albareda and his collaborators.

Archbishop Josef Beran in prayerful reflection during communist persecution in Czechoslovakia.

Letters

Tuus quinquagesimus (1961.05.30)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The Latin letter “Tuus quinquagesimus” (30 May 1961) is an address of John XXIII to Josef Beran on the 50th anniversary of his priesthood, praising his virtues, lamenting his forced isolation under the communist regime, deploring the persecution of the Church in Czechoslovakia, and invoking heavenly consolation and blessings for him and the faithful. It presents Beran’s suffering as a participation in the beatitude of those persecuted for justice, while adopting a mild, sentimental tone toward the communist oppression and limiting itself to spiritual encouragement without any doctrinally precise condemnation of the ideological root or explicit call to the public rights of Christ the King.
In reality, this text is a small but eloquent monument of the new conciliar mentality: pious phrases masking political servility, humanistic pathos without dogmatic backbone, and a studied refusal to affirm the full sovereign rights of Our Lord and His Church against atheistic tyranny.

A historical depiction of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, showcasing its Catholic heritage and scholarly tradition.

Letters

In extremis (1961.04.06)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The letter celebrates the 350th anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, extolling it as a luminous center of “Christian wisdom” in the Far East, praising its Dominican foundations, royal and papal privileges, alleged doctrinal integrity, contributions to civil and ecclesial life, and its role in forming leaders of an independent Philippines; it invokes Innocent X, Leo XIII, and Pius X to cloak this praise in historical continuity, commends the university as alma mater of the Filipino nation, and concludes with benedictions under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Thomas Aquinas. In reality, this text is a paradigmatic exercise in using traditional language to anesthetize vigilance, preparing Catholic institutions for absorption into the conciliar revolution and the cult of man under a usurper who would inaugurate the systematic betrayal of the very Magisterium he selectively cites.

Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani addressing a catechetical congress in Dallas in 1961, with bishops and catechists in a traditional cathedral setting.

Letters

Admodum gratum (1961.03.20)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated 20 March 1961, John XXIII appoints Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani as his legate to a catechetical congress in Dallas for bishops and catechists from the United States, Canada, and Latin America. He praises the scope of the meeting, exhorts catechists to fidelity, zeal, prayer, humility, and reliance on divine grace, and frames their task as an honorable service that yields spiritual fruit, crowning the text with his “apostolic blessing.” This apparently harmless exhortation, read in its historical and doctrinal context, is in fact a small but telling brick in the edifice of the conciliar revolution: a pious varnish masking a program of catechetical disarmament and preparation for the neo-church’s destruction of integral doctrine.

Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, stands solemnly before the Christ the King monument in Lisbon, Portugal.

Letters

Admodum gavisi (1961.03.08)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The letter “Admodum gavisi” of John XXIII congratulates Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, on the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination. It offers courtly praise for his governance, his promotion of liturgy and seminaries, his fostering of “Catholic Action” in Portugal, and commends especially the monument to Christ the King and the national consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, crowning it all with the promise of a plenary indulgence for the jubilee.

Reverent depiction of St. Patrick and Irish missionaries symbolizing Catholic Ireland's devotion to the Roman See as described in John XXIII's 1961 letter.

Letters

Hibernorum Apostoli (1961.02.18)

amdg / 2025-11-09

John XXIII’s letter on the 15th centenary of the death of St Patrick outwardly praises Ireland’s apostolic heritage, its fidelity to Rome, its missionary zeal, and its bond with the Roman See; yet the text functions as a subtle instrument of the conciliar revolution, redirecting an authentically Catholic legacy into obedient service of the nascent neo-church being prepared by its author.

A solemn portrait of Bishop Jaime de Barros Câmara receiving a letter from antipope John XXIII in a grand Brazilian cathedral during a Eucharistic Congress.

Letters

Haud minus (1961.01.09)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This short Latin letter of antipope John XXIII to Jaime de Barros Câmara, on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, is a ceremonious laudatory note: it praises his administrative zeal in various diocesan roles in Brazil, highlights his organization of a 1955 International Eucharistic Congress, commends his efforts for schools and catechesis, and grants him the faculty to impart the apostolic blessing with a plenary indulgence on the occasion of his jubilee.

Cardinal Ignatius Gabriel Tappouni kneeling in prayer before an ancient Catholic altar in a dimly lit Eastern Catholic church.

Letters

Chirographum ad Ignatium Gabrielem Tappouni (1960.12.16)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The brief Latin note attributed to John XXIII congratulates Ignatius Gabriel Tappouni, Syriac Patriarch of Antioch and cardinal, on the fiftieth anniversary of his reception of the Roman purple, praises his merits and fidelity to the See of Peter, and imparts an “Apostolic Blessing” upon him and his flock. Behind this seemingly innocuous compliment lies the distilled program of the conciliar usurpation: the canonization of diplomacy, the sacralization of human respect, and the instrumentalization of Eastern hierarchs as ornaments of a neo-church that has already begun to repudiate the Kingship of Christ and the dogmatic intransigence of the true Roman Church.