Letters – Page 11 – Antipope John XXIII

A traditional Catholic depiction of antipope John XXIII issuing Apostolici Muneris to German bishops Frings, Wendel, and Doepfner in the Vatican.

Apostolici muneris (1959.11.29)

amdg / 2025-11-10

In this Latin circular letter, antipope John XXIII responds with paternal-sounding courtesy to the joint communication of German hierarchy figures (Frings, Wendel, Doepfner and others), praising: pilgrimages to the “Holy Tunic” at Trier; preparation for the Munich International Eucharistic Congress; charitable works, especially in diaspora regions; initiatives toward those “separated” from the Church; and the expectation and preparation of the future “Ecumenical Council.” He wraps all this in pious vocabulary about Christ the King, Marian shrines, unity, and pastoral solicitude.

Cardinal Pietro Ciriaci in Vatican's Apostolic Palace holding Tridentine decree document.

Letters

Quinquagesimum natalem (1959.11.28)

amdg / 2025-11-10

This short Latin letter of John XXIII, issued on 28 November 1959, is an official congratulatory message addressed to Pietro Ciriaci on the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination. John XXIII recalls their shared Roman seminary years, praises Ciriaci’s academic and diplomatic career, extols his service to the Roman Curia, highlights his role as Apostolic Nuncio in Czechoslovakia and Portugal, commends his work in interpreting the Tridentine decrees and handling “arduous” cases, and concludes by invoking divine light and strength so that Ciriaci may continue to labor for the “utility and honor” of the Roman See, extending an Apostolic Blessing to him and all connected to the jubilee.

A solemn depiction of the Pontifical North American College in Rome during its 1959 centenary celebration, showcasing seminarians and clergy in traditional attire within a grand classical courtyard.

Letters

Centum (1959.08.28)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The letter commemorates the centenary of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. John XXIII congratulates its superiors and alumni, praises the generosity and foresight of the American hierarchy in founding it, recalls the fruits it allegedly bore in clergy and episcopate, lauds Pius XII’s dedication of the new building on the Janiculum, and extols Rome as the privileged place for priestly formation, wishing abundant blessings upon the College and imparting his “Apostolic Blessing.” All this appears as harmless celebration of a seminary’s jubilee, yet it is in fact the polished facade of a program: the consolidation of a new humanist, Americanized, conciliatory clergy at the very nerve center of the nascent conciliar revolution.

A traditional Catholic scene depicting Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani during the centenary celebration of the Canadian hierarchy in 1959, highlighting the solemnity and underlying tensions of the era.

Letters

Si summo (1959.08.25)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The Latin letter “Si summo” (25 August 1959) from John XXIII to Alfredo Ottaviani appoints him as papal legate for the centenary celebrations of the establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Canada. It praises divine beneficence, extols the historic merits of the Canadian bishops and of François de Montmorency-Laval, urges renewed fidelity to Catholic doctrine, calls for resistance to materialism, and grants indulgences to the faithful participating in the solemnities. Behind this apparently edifying rhetoric, the document functions as a polished liturgical veil concealing the imminent subversion of the very hierarchical and doctrinal order it pretends to honor.

Traditional Catholic Eucharistic procession in Córdoba, Argentina, 1959. Clergy in Latin Mass vestments lead the faithful in solemn prayer under a canopy adorned with banners.

Letters

Non excidit (1959.08.20)

amdg / 2025-11-10

Dated 20 August 1959, this brief Latin letter of John XXIII appoints Ferdinand Antonino Cento as papal legate to preside over the National Eucharistic Congress of Argentina in Córdoba (Tucumán). It recalls with nostalgia the 1934 International Eucharistic Congress in Buenos Aires (led by Eugenio Pacelli), praises the Argentine hierarchy’s organizational zeal, notes the cooperation promised by civil authorities, and expresses the expectation that intensified Eucharistic devotion will nurture peace, piety, and public friendship between the Argentine state and the Apostolic See.

A solemn Eucharistic procession in Catana, Italy, under the shadow of Mount Etna, reflecting traditional Catholic devotion and reverence.

Letters

A A A LA IOANNES PP. XXIII… Catana urbs (1959.08.02)

amdg / 2025-11-10

Catana, a city near Mount Etna, is presented in this Latin epistle of John XXIII as the honoured site of a nationwide Italian Eucharistic Congress. The usurper praises the local hierarchy and faithful, appoints Marcello Mimmi as his legate, and exhorts that the Eucharistic celebration foster piety, unity, and peace, issuing his “apostolic blessing” upon clergy, officials, and people gathered to venerate the Blessed Sacrament.

Bishop Alfonso Castaldo in traditional Catholic episcopal vestments standing in a grand cathedral in Naples surrounded by symbols of his administrative achievements.

Letters

EPISTULA «EPISCOPALIS» (1959.06.24)

amdg / 2025-11-10

Dated 24 June 1959, this Latin letter of John XXIII congratulates Alfonso Castaldo on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal ordination, praising his pastoral initiatives in Pozzuoli and Naples, commending his social, charitable, and educational works, and granting him the faculty to impart the so-called papal blessing with plenary indulgence on the occasion of the jubilee.

Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac kneeling in prayer in a dimly lit Catholic chapel with a crucifix illuminated behind him.

Letters

Abeunte tibi (1959.06.14)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The letter “Abeunte tibi” (14 June 1959) of John XXIII, addressed to Aloysius Stepinac on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, is a short laudatory note praising his piety, constancy, social initiatives, and sufferings under communist persecution, culminating in congratulations for his elevation to the “Sacred Purple” by Pius XII and an Apostolic Blessing for him and the Zagreb archdiocese. It presents Stepinac as an edifying figure whose trials and social works are serenely integrated into the emerging ethos of the new regime in Rome.

Louis Severin Haller receiving a letter from antipope John XXIII in a traditional Catholic setting, marking the ninth centenary of the 1059 Lateran Synod.

Letters

A A A LA IOANNES PP. XXIII (1959.05.25)

amdg / 2025-11-10

The document, issued by antipope John XXIII on 25 May 1959, is a congratulatory letter to Louis Severin Haller, titular “bishop” of Bethlehem and abbot primate of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, marking the ninth centenary of the 1059 Lateran synod and the associated canonical reforms. It recalls Augustinian roots of common life, praises the Lateran prescriptions on clerical community, commends the historic contribution of the Canons Regular, and warmly endorses the plan to formalize a confederation of their congregations, exhorting them to liturgical service, pastoral care, common life, obedience, moral integrity, and fraternal charity. From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this apparently pious exhortation is in reality a carefully calibrated ideological signal of the coming conciliar revolution, instrumentalizing venerable monastic and canonical language to prepare religious institutes as docile functionaries of the future neo-church.

A group of reverent priests and laypeople gathered in a solemn Catholic church for a liturgical ceremony honoring Bishop Benedict Aloisi Masella and the public consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Letters

A.A.A. LA IOANNES PP. XXIII (1959.05.24)

amdg / 2025-11-10

This Latin letter of John XXIII (24 May 1959) congratulates Benedict Aloisi Masella, bishop of Palestrina and archpriest of the Lateran Basilica, on his 80th birthday and 40th episcopal anniversary, approves the local plan to honor him and to renew the public consecration of the city to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a Marian monument, and grants him the faculty to bestow a plenary indulgence on the faithful present at a pontifical liturgy on the appointed day.