Apostolic Letters – Page 17 – Antipope John XXIII

Devout Catholic pilgrims kneel before the crowned image of Nuestra Señora de El Soto in Iruz, Toranzo, Spain.

Potiora inter (1959.05.23)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document under consideration is an apostolic letter of John XXIII, dated 23 May 1959, entitled “Potiora inter,” by which he declares the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated as “Nuestra Señora de El Soto” at Iruz to be solemnly crowned and confirms/constitutes her as principal heavenly Patroness of the region of Toranzo (thirty localities in the Diocese of Santander). The text exalts the Marian shrine’s antiquity, its association with the Franciscan and then Discalced Carmelite communities, recounts its desecration during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent restoration, and then, appealing to local devotion, grants liturgical patronal status and authorizes a canonical coronation carried out in his name by the local ordinary.

A reverent cathedral scene with a statue of Saint Isidore the Farmer, surrounded by clergy in traditional vestments, reflecting Catholic devotion and the significance of divine patronage.

Apostolic Letters

Plantaria novella (1959.05.21)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document titled Plantaria novella, dated 21 May 1959 and attributed to John XXIII, designates Saint Isidore the Farmer as the principal heavenly patron of the Diocese of San Isidro in Argentina. It clothes this act in pious language about new dioceses as “young plantings” needing special celestial protection so that ecclesial life may flourish, and then, invoking alleged apostolic authority, declares Saint Isidore Patron with the usual liturgical privileges, nullifying all contrary provisions.

A group of Canons Regular of St. Augustine in traditional black habits praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a medieval church.

Apostolic Letters

Caritatis unitas (1959.05.04)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document titled Caritatis unitas, issued by John XXIII on May 4, 1959, purports to approve and confirm a “Confederation, or Pact of Charity” among several Congregations of the Canons Regular of St Augustine (Lateran, Austrian, Great St Bernard/Mont-Joux, and Saint-Maurice of Agaunum). It exalts Augustinian common life, recalls the medieval canonical reforms, praises inter-congregational bonds, institutes the office of an “Abbot Primate” for the federated body, delineates principles of autonomy and cooperation, and bestows an appearance of Apostolic authority and perpetuity upon this structure, explicitly integrating it into the apparatus of the Roman Curia and securing a “Cardinal Protector”. It is, in outward form, a pious administrative act; in reality, it is a juridical and ideological prelude to the systematic instrumentalization and neutralization of religious life in service of the coming conciliar revolution.

Portrait of Blessed Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais surrounded by the poor and sick in a traditional Catholic setting.

Apostolic Letters

Caritatis Praeconium (1959.05.03)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document “Caritatis Praeconium,” issued in 1959 under the name of John XXIII, declares the Canadian foundress Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais, widow d’Youville, as “Blessed,” extolling her life of charity, her foundation of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (“Grey Nuns”), her trust in Providence amid sufferings, and her supposed posthumous miracles, and grants liturgical cult in specified territories and chapels. It presents her as “mother of universal charity” and proposes her as a model for the faithful, grounding this act in the alleged authority of the post-1958 Roman structures.

A solemn Catholic basilica in Quito, Ecuador, featuring the image of the Virgin Mary 'Del Quinche' with rich liturgical ornaments and devout pilgrims.

Apostolic Letters

MARIANI CULTUS (1959.05.02)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document attributed to John XXIII, titled “Mariani cultus,” is a Latin apostolic letter by which he confers the title and privileges of a minor basilica on the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Del Quinche” in the Archdiocese of Quito. It recounts the antiquity and architectural beauty of the sanctuary, the intensity of local Marian devotion, the supposed miracles depicted there, the pastoral care by clergy entrusted with the shrine, and on this basis grants juridical-liturgical distinctions and associated privileges to the temple.

Already in this apparently pious administrative act, the conciliar usurper manifests the juridical presumption and theological deformation of the emerging neo-church: a Marian varnish covering the systematic destruction of the Kingship of Christ and the subordination of true worship to a counterfeit magisterium.

Sister Helena Guerra kneeling in prayer before an altar adorned with a statue of the Holy Spirit and a crucifix.

Apostolic Letters

Renovans Faciem (1959.04.26)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document “Renovans faciem” (26 April 1959) is presented as an Apostolic Letter of John XXIII, declaring the Lucchese nun Helena Guerra, foundress of the Oblates of the Holy Spirit (Sisters of St Zita), as “Blessed,” extolling her alleged virtues, her promotion of devotion to the Holy Ghost, her Marian and Eucharistic piety, her charitable works, and her influence on Leo XIII’s initiatives regarding the Holy Spirit, and granting a limited liturgical cult in her honour.

A solemn depiction of the canonization of Joaquina de Vedruna de Mas by John XXIII in a traditional Catholic chapel.

Apostolic Letters

Materna caritas (1959.04.12)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document “Materna caritas” is a decretal letter issued in 1959 by John XXIII, formally declaring the canonization of Joaquina de Vedruna de Mas, foundress of the Carmelites of Charity, based on an outline of her life, virtues, and alleged miracles, and inscribing her in the catalogue of saints with universal cult. It exalts her “maternal charity,” her work for the sick and poor, the foundation and expansion of her institute, and the processes leading from beatification to canonization under Pius XI and Pius XII, culminating in John XXIII’s solemn definition.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows in traditional Passionist habit praying before an icon of Our Lady of Sorrows at the shrine in Isola del Gran Sasso.

Apostolic Letters

Quantum dilectionis (1959.04.10)

amdg / 2025-11-10

John XXIII’s apostolic letter “Quantum dilectionis” (10 April 1959) proclaims Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows as principal heavenly patron of the Abruzzi region, extolling his cult, pilgrimages to his shrine at Isola del Gran Sasso, the role of the Passionist congregation, and conferring corresponding liturgical rights and privileges, all under the self-asserted plenitude of apostolic power of the newly elected conciliar usurper. In reality, this short document is a precise early specimen of the pseudo-magisterium of the nascent conciliar sect: pious in vocabulary, but operating as a juridical and spiritual counterfeit erected on a usurped authority and instrumentalizing authentic pre-1958 sanctity to legitimize the coming revolution.

A solemn Catholic liturgical scene depicting the consecration of a diocese to Our Lady of Fatima under Bishop Agustín Herrera.

Apostolic Letters

Qui huius saeculi (1959.03.23)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document signed by John XXIII on 23 March 1959, under the title “Qui huius saeculi,” designates “Our Lady of Fatima” as principal patroness, together with Saint Dominic, of the diocese of San Domingo de Nueve de Julio in Argentina, praising the people’s attachment to the Fatima cult and solemnly granting them the corresponding liturgical privileges and canonical effects. It is a short juridical text, couched in exalted Marian language, whose entire theological and spiritual weight rests on the elevation of Fatima to a normative, quasi-dogmatic axis of diocesan life. This act is an emblematic manifestation of the incipient conciliar revolution: a pseudo-pontifical seal placed upon a manufactured apparition-cult, instrumentalized to prepare the demolition of the Catholic notion of the Church, authority, and the Kingship of Christ.

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Capuchin Franciscan Doctor of the Church, standing in front of a medieval cathedral holding an open Bible.

Apostolic Letters

Celsitudo ex humilitate (1959.03.19)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document “Celsitudo ex humilitate,” dated 19 March 1959 and signed by John XXIII, is an apostolic letter declaring Saint Lawrence of Brindisi a Doctor of the Universal Church. It presents a panegyric of Lawrence: his Franciscan and Capuchin vocation, his virtues, his preaching against heresy, his learning (especially in Scripture and languages), his diplomatic labours, and his service to the Holy See and Catholic princes. It insists that in times of doctrinal crisis God raises such men to defend the Church, and concludes by formally enrolling Lawrence among the Doctors of the Church with liturgical commemoration and juridical language guaranteeing the act’s validity.