Apostolic Letters – Page 7 – Antipope John XXIII

A reverent depiction of the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows in Pescara, showcasing Marian devotion and traditional Catholic piety.

Pientissima Virgo (1959.01.16)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The text under review, issued by the usurper John XXIII on January 16, 1959, confers the title and privileges of a Minor Basilica upon the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows in Pescara. It rehearses local Marian piety, recalls Pius XII’s designation of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows as co-principal patroness of the diocese, praises the Capuchin custodians, and—“out of the fullness” of supposed apostolic power—elevates the sanctuary to basilica rank, granting all the rights and privileges attached to that title.
In one page of apparently edifying Marian devotion, we see the cold legalization of a counterfeit authority, the instrumentalization of true Marian titles to crown the nascent conciliar revolution, and the blasphemous claim that a manifestly modernist intruder can legislate in the name of Christ and His Church.

A reverent depiction of the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls during a solemn Roman stational liturgy, highlighting the traditional devotion to martyrs and the historical significance of the site.

Apostolic Letters

Agnes sepulchrum (1959.02.27)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The text promulgated by John XXIII under the title “Agnes sepulchrum” concerns the elevation of the Roman church of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls to the dignity and prerogatives of a “stational” church, attaching to it the associated indulgences and prescribing that an annual station be held there on the same day as at Saint John ante Portam Latinam, namely the Saturday after the First Passion Sunday. Wrapped in ornate references to Saint Agnes, Constantine, ancient piety, and the liturgical tradition of the Roman stations, it presents itself as a gesture of filial continuity with the Roman Church’s cult of martyrs and of encouragement of Lenten devotion.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi preaching to devoted followers in a 17th-century Capuchin monastery, symbolizing his theological prowess and Marian devotion.

Apostolic Letters

Celsitudo ex humilitate (1959.03.19)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The Latin text published under the name of John XXIII as “Celsitudo ex humilitate” presents a solemn declaration of St Lawrence of Brindisi as Doctor of the Universal Church. It extols his Franciscan humility, zeal against Protestant errors, mastery of Scripture and languages, Marian doctrine, and apostolic labours, and concludes with the formal inscription of his feast and doctrinal title in the universal Church.

A solemn portrait of a traditional Catholic bishop before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, reflecting deep Marian devotion and theological significance.

Apostolic Letters

Qui huius saeculi (1959.03.23)

amdg / 2025-11-12

Whoever walks the dark roads of this age, says this text, will find a safe path of salvation if they cultivate heartfelt devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and spread the reign of her Immaculate Heart; therefore John XXIII, acceding to the request of Agustín Herrera, declares the “Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima” principal patroness, together with St. Dominic, of the Diocese of Santo Domingo de Nueve de Julio in Argentina, granting her all liturgical honors and privileges proper to a diocesan principal patron, and he does so with all the solemn formulas of binding, perpetual juridical force. In one brief page, the paramasonic “pontificate” of Roncalli reveals both its cultic center and its method: elevation of the Fatima construct into a quasi-dogmatic axis of diocesan life, usurpation of papal authority to enthrone a fabricated apparition, and the quiet displacement of the true Christocentric, sacramental, and doctrinal order of the Church by a psychological operation.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows kneeling in prayer before the Basilica of Isola del Gran Sasso in Abruzzo.

Apostolic Letters

Quantum dilectionis (1959.04.10)

amdg / 2025-11-12

Sanctus Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, a young Passionist religious canonized by Pius X and Benedict XV, is here proclaimed by John XXIII as the “principal heavenly Patron” of the Abruzzi region. The text recalls his cult, the basilica at Isola del Gran Sasso, and the influx of pilgrims, then, in the usual juridical formulae, declares and confirms his patronage with attached liturgical privileges for the region.

A solemn scene depicting Pope John XXIII reading the decretal letter 'Materna Caritas' in a Vatican chapel, surrounded by cardinals and bishops.

Apostolic Letters

Materna caritas (1959.04.12)

amdg / 2025-11-12

Materna caritas is a solemn Latin decretal letter of John XXIII, declaring the canonization of Joaquina de Vedruna de Mas, foundress of the Carmelites of Charity, by rehearsing her life, virtues, alleged miracles, and the procedural steps of beatification and canonization, culminating in the formula by which he and the assembled hierarchy “define” her as a Saint of the universal Church. The entire text, however edifying it may appear on the surface, is structurally and doctrinally the self-exposure of an authority already internally subverted, preparing the way for the conciliar revolution by transforming sanctity into an instrument of anthropocentric, naturalistic humanitarianism and by presuming a magisterial authority which, according to perennial Catholic doctrine, a manifest heretic simply does not possess.

John XXIII reading the canonization decree of Carlo da Sezze in a traditional Catholic setting

Apostolic Letters

Mirabilis tot (1959.04.12)

amdg / 2025-11-12

Mirabilis tot is the solemn Latin decree by which John XXIII, in April 1959, inscribed Carlo da Sezze (Charles of Sezze), a 17th‑century Franciscan lay brother, into the catalogue of canonized saints. The document rehearses at length his humble rural origins, his Franciscan vocation, severe asceticism, mystical phenomena (visions, locutions, stigmata of the heart), reputed miracles during life and after death, and the juridical steps from diocesan inquiries through beatification under Pius IX to final canonization. It culminates in a high liturgical proclamation “as Supreme Pastor of the universal Church” that Carlo and Joaquina de Vedruna are saints for the whole Church, whose cult is commanded and whose patronage is invoked for the success of John XXIII’s announced “initiatives” and for the temporal and spiritual prosperity of peoples.

Saint Joseph as the principal heavenly patron of the Diocese of Tapachula in 1959, depicted in a reverent and traditional Catholic scene.

Apostolic Letters

Cui Datum (1959.04.14)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The Latin brief “Cui Datum,” dated 14 April 1959 and issued under the name of John XXIII, declares Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the principal heavenly patron of the Diocese of Tapachula (Tapacolensis), erected by Pius XII in 1957. It confirms the choice of the local hierarchy and faithful, grants the liturgical rights proper to a diocesan principal patron, and clothes the act in the usual juridical solemnity and perpetuity clauses typical of pre-conciliar Roman documents. Behind this apparently pious and traditional decree, however, stands a usurper inaugurating the conciliar revolution, instrumentalizing authentic devotions as camouflage for an emerging neo-church divorced from the true, integral Catholic Faith.

Bishop Miguel Raspanti kneeling in reverence before a statue of the Immaculate Conception in a traditional Catholic church setting.

Apostolic Letters

Quae festo (1959.04.15)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The document “Quae festo,” dated 15 April 1959 and signed by John XXIII, is presented as an apostolic letter confirming the choice of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception as the principal heavenly patroness of the Diocese of Morón in Argentina. It recalls the erection of the diocese by Pius XII in 1957, notes the local devotion to Our Lady, cites the request of Bishop Miguel Raspanti, and, invoking “Apostolic” authority, solemnly declares and confirms Mary Immaculate as special patroness with the liturgical rights attached to a diocesan principal patron, with the usual formulae of alleged canonical perpetuity and nullity of contrary acts.

Catholic devotee Helena Guerra in prayer with Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit in a traditional chapel, symbolizing devotion to the Holy Ghost.

Apostolic Letters

RENOVANS FACIEM (1959.04.26)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The document “Renovans faciem” of 26 April 1959, issued by John XXIII, is an apostolic letter announcing and regulating the beatification of Helena Guerra, foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit (Sisters of St. Zita). It briefly recounts her life: her early piety, Eucharistic devotion, promotion of the cult of the Holy Ghost, charitable works, foundation of a congregation dedicated to girls’ education and to spreading devotion to the Holy Ghost, her trials and humiliations, the subsequent canonical processes, alleged miracles, and finally the concession of liturgical cult within specified territories. The entire text clothes John XXIII’s act in a seemingly traditional pneumatological and hagiographical narrative, while in reality it functions as an early programmatic manifesto: the Holy Ghost is subtly invoked as the legitimizing “new spirit” for the soon-to-be conciliar revolution and for a new “springtime” of a Church that will deny its own immutable foundations.