Letters – Page 2 – Antipope John XXIII

A reverent depiction of traditional Catholic missionaries in Lyon, France, highlighting the martyrs Pothinus and Irenaeus, Pauline Jaricot in prayer, and the city's rich Christian heritage.

A A A ES – LA IOANNES PP. XXIII EPISTULA… GRATULAMUR (1962.03.20)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The letter “Gratulamur” of 20 March 1962, issued by John XXIII to Cardinal Gerlier of Lyon, praises Lyon as host of the first worldwide missionary congress, extols its ancient martyrs and the figure of Pauline Jaricot, and encourages renewed commitment to the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith and to “missionary” activity adapted to “changed times,” coordinated, centralized and explicitly detached from political conditions, in the name of a universal, supra-national ecclesial action.

Aged Catholic bishop holding a letter from antipope John XXIII in a historic Latin American cathedral, symbolizing the betrayal of Pius X's anti-modernist legacy.

Letters

Laeti laetum (1962.04.05)

amdg / 2025-11-12

In this Latin letter, antipope John XXIII congratulates Cardinal Carlos Maria de la Torre, archbishop of Quito, on the fiftieth anniversary of his episcopal consecration, recalling his nomination by Pope St. Pius X, praising his pastoral zeal, his defense of ecclesiastical rights, promotion of Catholic Action and social initiatives, foundation of schools and the Catholic University in Quito, and granting him the faculty to impart a plenary indulgence on this jubilee. Behind this apparently benign and deferential homage to an aged prelate stands the calculated instrumentalization of pre-1958 Catholic authority and names—above all Pius X—to legitimize the conciliar revolution and cloak its architects with the vestments of Tradition.

A Catholic bishop in traditional vestments praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a church adorned with saints and Eucharistic symbols.

Letters

Omnes sane (1962.04.15)

amdg / 2025-11-12

This Latin circular letter, issued by antipope John XXIII on 15 April 1962, is addressed individually to all residential bishops in view of the imminent opening of Vatican II. It exhorts them to intensified prayer for the Council, to personal holiness, to confidence in divine grace amid pastoral burdens, and to Eucharistic and spiritual devotion, while praising their unity, zeal, and preparation for the coming assembly. Beneath its courteous tone, the text canonizes a new ecclesial consciousness ordered toward the conciliar revolution, subtly redefining episcopal holiness as enthusiastic collaboration with an event destined to mutilate the visible structures of the Church and enthrone the cult of man in place of the social Kingship of Christ.

Saint James the Less and Saint Philip depicted in solemn manner before the Basilica of the Holy Apostles in Rome. A reverent image reflecting Catholic tradition and doctrinal concerns about the Second Vatican Council.

Letters

Apostolorum choro (1962.04.30)

amdg / 2025-11-12

Sancti Iacobi Minoris’ nineteenth centenary of martyrdom provides the pretext for this Latin letter of John XXIII to Basil Heiser, head of the Conventual Franciscans. The text praises Saint James the Less and Saint Philip, commends the Roman Basilica of the Holy Apostles as an appropriate center of celebration, and links renewed devotion to the Apostles with hopeful expectations for the then-forthcoming Second Vatican Council, presenting it as a springtime of “spiritual renewal” under their patronage.

A traditional Catholic depiction of the usurper John XXIII in a Vatican office, surrounded by clergy, holding a scroll titled 'Amantissimo Patris,' symbolizing the subversion of missionary work for conciliar goals.

Letters

Amantissimo Patris (1962.05.03)

amdg / 2025-11-12

This Latin letter, issued by the usurper John XXIII to Gregory Peter Agagianian, commemorates the 40th anniversary of Pius XI’s motu proprio Romanorum Pontificum on the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. It praises Pauline Jaricot’s work, recounts the institutionalization and centralization of missionary funding under the Roman Curia, exhorts bishops, clergy, laity, and even newly founded “young Churches” to greater participation in Papal Mission Societies, and explicitly links this mobilization to the then-upcoming Vatican II as a great hope for worldwide missionary renewal. Beneath its devotional and bureaucratic language, the text functions as a programmatic manifesto: subordinating authentic missionary zeal to a conciliar, global, naturalistic project detached from the integral Catholic faith and ordered to the emerging conciliar sect.

A solemn Catholic scene depicting Benedict Aloisi Masella holding a Latin letter from John XXIII in a dimly lit chapel of the Lateran Basilica.

Letters

Sexaginta annos (1962.05.26)

amdg / 2025-11-12

This brief Latin letter of John XXIII to Benedict Aloisi Masella, on the 60th anniversary of Masella’s priestly ordination, offers congratulatory praise for his long service in various diplomatic and curial roles, invokes a generic blessing on his past and present offices (including as Prefect of the Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments and Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica), and ends with an “Apostolic Blessing” for him and those present at the celebration. It is a short, apparently benign panegyric whose suave courtesies, precisely in their apparent harmlessness, reveal the entire programmatic inversion of the Catholic priesthood and hierarchy that characterizes John XXIII and the conciliar revolution he inaugurated.

John XXIII and Eugene Tisserant in a Vatican chapel, symbolizing the theological and historical context of their letter on episcopal consecration.

Letters

Quamvis religiosam (1962.07.10)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The Latin text under review is a congratulatory letter of John XXIII to Eugene Tisserant on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration. It offers laudatory praise for Tisserant’s “pastoral” activity as bishop of Ostia, Porto, and Santa Rufina, extols his governance, invokes abundant heavenly helps, and grants him, for a chosen day, authorization in the name and “authority” of John XXIII to impart a blessing with a plenary indulgence to the faithful present.

A solemn depiction of a traditional Catholic bishop in Avignon, holding a manuscript of Duplicis Anniversariae, in a historic church setting.

Letters

Duplicis anniversariae (1962.07.11)

amdg / 2025-11-12

The document is a Latin letter of John XXIII to Joseph Urtasun, “archbishop” of Avignon, commemorating the 600th anniversary of the death of Innocent VI and the election of “Blessed” Urban V. John XXIII praises both Avignon pontiffs as models of ecclesiastical discipline, learning, peace-making, and attachment to the papal office, and uses their memory to exhort the faithful to venerate and adhere to the Roman Pontificate in view of the impending Second Vatican Council, presenting the “Holy See” as the unique center of unity and hope for a disoriented world. In reality, this polished panegyric is a programmatic apologia for the conciliar usurpation of authority, built on selective history, hollow rhetoric, and a deliberate instrumentalization of true papal titles in the mouth of one who was already dismantling the very papacy he invokes.

A traditional Carmelite nun in prayer before a statue of St. Teresa of Jesus in Ávila, Spain.

Letters

Causa praeclara (1962.07.16)

amdg / 2025-11-12

This Latin letter of John XXIII appoints Cardinal Cento as his legate to preside at celebrations in Ávila for the 400th anniversary of St. Teresa of Jesus’ Carmelite reform, extols Teresa’s contemplative and ascetical renewal, praises Carmel’s hidden apostolate of prayer and sacrifice for souls, and links Teresian spirituality to the then-upcoming Second Vatican Council with the hope of a “new springtime” in the Church. From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this apparently pious tribute functions as a carefully perfumed veil over the conciliar revolution, instrumentalizing St. Teresa to bless the emerging neo-church that John XXIII was constructing against the Faith of Trent and all pre-1958 Magisterium.

Cardinal Augustin Bea in traditional Jesuit and cardinal's vestments, holding a Latin document in a dimly lit church with stained glass windows depict the Crucifixion.

Letters

Cum omne (1962.07.24)

amdg / 2025-11-12

This brief Latin letter of John XXIII congratulates Augustin Bea, a Jesuit and key architect of the ecumenical agenda, on the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. It praises Bea’s priestly service, highlights his role as President of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity in preparation for the so-called Second Vatican Council, invokes pious formulae about priesthood and Christ, and grants him faculties to impart blessings and a plenary indulgence on the occasion of the jubilee.