Apostolic Letters – Page 15 – Antipope John XXIII

A solemn interior of the Carmel Church of St. Charles Borromeo overlooking the blue sea in California, featuring traditional Catholic architecture and a statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem.

Caeruleum Mare (1960.02.05)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The Latin text issued under the name of John XXIII on 5 February 1960 solemnly elevates the church of St Charles Borromeo in Carmel, California, to the rank of a minor basilica, praising its picturesque coastal setting, its historical role in the implantation of Catholicism in California, its association with Junípero Serra, and its function as a popular place of worship and marriage ceremonies; it showers canonical privileges on this sanctuary in formally exalted but theologically hollow language, presenting the act as an expression of piety and pastoral solicitude. In reality, this document is an early, concentrated symptom of the self-referential legalism, historical romanticism, and creeping naturalism by which the conciliar revolution cloaked its usurpation of Catholic authority in a rhetoric of continuity, while preparing to betray the very Faith it sentimentally invokes.

Interior view of the baroque cathedral of Ayacucho in Peru, elevated to a minor basilica, showcasing its sacred ornaments and traditional Catholic heritage.

Apostolic Letters

Meritis laudibus (1960.01.15)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document attributed to John XXIII, titled Meritis laudibus (15 January 1960), grants the cathedral church of Ayacucho in Peru, dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows, the title and privileges of a minor basilica. In solemn canonical language it praises the baroque splendor, sacred ornaments, and artistic heritage of the temple, and decrees, with the usual juridical formulae, its elevation to the dignity of Basilica Minor with all corresponding rights and privileges, nullifying anything to the contrary.

A Portuguese airman kneels in prayer before a statue of Our Lady of the Air at a 1960s airbase, reflecting traditional Marian devotion amidst modern technology.

Apostolic Letters

Aligera cymba (1960.01.15)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The text under review is a brief Latin decree of John XXIII, in which he, as head of the conciliar revolution in its preparatory phase, declares “Nossa Senhora do Ar” (“Our Lady of the Air”) the celestial patroness of all Portuguese aeronauts. It notes that Portuguese airmen spontaneously venerate the Blessed Virgin under this title, observes Portugal’s historic Marian devotion, cites the request of aeronautical authorities and the recommendation of Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, and proceeds to “choose and declare” this invocation as their heavenly patroness, attaching the usual liturgical privileges to this patronage, with the customary juridical clauses attempting to guarantee its perpetual validity.

This seemingly pious text, devoid of doctrinal exposition and saturated with bureaucratic formulas, is in fact an early, symptomatic fragment of the conciliar pseudo-magisterium: a sentimental, horizontal, and national-devotional manipulation of Marian piety that serves the consolidation of a counterfeit authority and the gradual dislocation of the Church from the reign of Christ the King to the cult of technological man and the modern state.

Interior of the Przemyśl Cathedral with crowned image of Our Lady and priests celebrating Mass, symbolizing piety amidst doctrinal betrayal.

Apostolic Letters

Romanorum Pontificum (1960.01.09)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document issued under the name Romanorum Pontificum (9 January 1960), attributed to John XXIII, confers on the Latin cathedral of Przemyśl, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland, the title and privileges of a minor basilica, praising its antiquity, Marian devotion, architectural value, liturgical splendor, and juridically confirming the attached honors with formulaic canonical clauses.
In reality, this seemingly pious gesture already reveals the juridical and theological imposture of the conciliar revolution, in which an illegitimate usurper exploits the language of Tradition to consolidate a counterfeit authority and prepare the ground for the demolition of the very Faith such decrees pretend to honor.

A traditional Catholic procession honoring Beata Maria Virgo de la Cabeza at her shrine in Jaén, Spain.

Apostolic Letters

Studium et cultus (1959.11.27)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The text is a Latin “apostolic letter” of John XXIII dated 27 November 1959, in which he “confirms and constitutes” the Marian devotion to “Beata Maria Virgo de la Cabeza” as principal heavenly patroness, together with St Euphrasius, for the entire diocese of Jaén, ratifying liturgical honors and privileges and invoking the usual formulae of juridical perpetuity. It presents as pious recognition of an allegedly ancient cult and its miraculous favors, crowned by a canonical coronation and patronal proclamation, yet it is in fact a paradigmatic expression of the pseudo-pontifical cult machinery of the conciliar revolution, instrumentalizing Marian devotion to legitimize an authority and a “church” already drifting from the integral Catholic faith.

John XXIII holding 'Luctifera bella' document in a dimly lit Vatican study with a faded image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as 'Queen of Peace' in the background.

Apostolic Letters

Luctifera bella (1959.11.25)

amdg / 2025-11-10

Luctifera bella is a Latin apostolic letter of John XXIII (25 November 1959), in which he laments the devastation of modern wars, praises the Italian National Association of Civilian Victims of War, and declares the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title “Queen of Peace” as its heavenly patroness, granting the usual liturgical privileges attached to such patronage. The entire text, while externally pious, subtly reduces the supernatural mission of the Church to the endorsement of a humanitarian association and to the promotion of a naturalistic concept of “peace” detached from the integral social reign of Christ the King and from the necessity of conversion to the true Faith.

A reverent image of the Ferrara Cathedral, showcasing its historic and artistic beauty with a traditional Catholic priest in contemplation.

Apostolic Letters

Mirabili nexu (1959.11.13)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The Latin text known as “Mirabili nexu” is an act of John XXIII by which he confers the title of Minor Basilica on the cathedral church of Ferrara, exalting its artistic beauty, historical memories, and its connection with past popes, saints, and ecclesiastical events, and then juridically attaching to it the prerogatives accorded to basilicas within the conciliar/post-conciliar understanding of cult, prestige, and privileges. Beneath the apparently innocuous praise of sacred art, this brief document is a precise manifestation of the new, usurping regime that instrumentalizes Catholic symbols and history to legitimize its authority and to mask the deeper revolution that would soon subvert doctrine, liturgy, and ecclesiology.

The Immaculate Virgin Mary and St. John Mary Vianney depicted in a traditional Catholic setting, symbolizing their intercession for the Diocese of Lafayette.

Apostolic Letters

Caelesti coruscans (1959.10.30)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The Latin text under the title “Caelesti coruscans,” issued in 1959 under the name of John XXIII, solemnly “confirms” the Immaculate Virgin Mary as principal heavenly patroness and St John Mary Vianney as secondary patron of the Diocese of Lafayette, invoking universal Marian devotion, extolling the Curé of Ars as model of priests, and wrapping this act in the usual juridical formulas of validity, perpetuity, and nullity of contrary acts.

A solemn Catholic image depicting the 1959 elevation of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación shrine in Táriba, Venezuela, to a minor basilica by John XXIII. Traditional Catholic symbolism and piety are emphasized.

Apostolic Letters

Solacium ac levationem (1959.10.23)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The Latin document under review is a brief act by John XXIII conferring the title and privileges of a minor basilica on the Marian shrine of “Nuestra Señora de la Consolación” in Táriba, in the diocese of San Cristóbal in Venezuela. It praises the people’s Marian devotion, invokes the consoling intercession of the Blessed Virgin, recalls the image brought by missionaries as a focal point of piety, and solemnly decrees, with typical curial formulas, that the church be elevated to the rank of minor basilica with the attached rights and privileges.

Traditional Catholic abbey in Australia with monks venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary of Good Counsel and Saint Benedict.

Apostolic Letters

BEATAM MARIAM VIRGINEM «A BONO CONSILIO» (1959.10.21)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document under consideration, issued in 1959 under the name of John XXIII, is a Latin apostolic letter declaring that the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title “of Good Counsel” and Saint Benedict, Abbot, are to be the primary heavenly patrons of the abbey nullius of New Norcia in Australia. It recounts local devotion, petitions by the monastery’s ordinary, and, invoking “apostolic authority,” formally designates these patrons with the liturgical honors due to principal patrons, nullifying any contrary provisions.

This seemingly pious act, however, is already a juridical and symbolic consolidation of the emerging conciliar usurpation: it appropriates authentic Catholic devotions and saints as ornamental camouflage for a nascent, counterfeit authority preparing the revolution of Vatican II.