Letters – Page 20 – Antipope John XXIII

A reverent depiction of a traditional Catholic library with Anselmo Albareda, O.S.B., highlighting the contrast between true Catholic doctrine and the naturalistic humanism promoted by John XXIII.

Quinque implenti (1961.06.12)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The Latin letter “Quinque implenti,” dated 12 June 1961 and signed by John XXIII, praises Anselmo Albareda, O.S.B., on the 25th anniversary of his appointment as Prefect of the Vatican Library. The text commends Albareda’s diligence, organizational work, expansion of collections, promotion of scholarly editions, and portrays the Library as a serene temple of wisdom radiating “Christian humanism.” It culminates in an exhortation to persevere in study and Benedictine observance, with an Apostolic Blessing for Albareda and his collaborators.

Archbishop Josef Beran in prayerful reflection during communist persecution in Czechoslovakia.

Letters

Tuus quinquagesimus (1961.05.30)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The Latin letter “Tuus quinquagesimus” (30 May 1961) is an address of John XXIII to Josef Beran on the 50th anniversary of his priesthood, praising his virtues, lamenting his forced isolation under the communist regime, deploring the persecution of the Church in Czechoslovakia, and invoking heavenly consolation and blessings for him and the faithful. It presents Beran’s suffering as a participation in the beatitude of those persecuted for justice, while adopting a mild, sentimental tone toward the communist oppression and limiting itself to spiritual encouragement without any doctrinally precise condemnation of the ideological root or explicit call to the public rights of Christ the King.
In reality, this text is a small but eloquent monument of the new conciliar mentality: pious phrases masking political servility, humanistic pathos without dogmatic backbone, and a studied refusal to affirm the full sovereign rights of Our Lord and His Church against atheistic tyranny.

A historical depiction of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, showcasing its Catholic heritage and scholarly tradition.

Letters

In extremis (1961.04.06)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The letter celebrates the 350th anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, extolling it as a luminous center of “Christian wisdom” in the Far East, praising its Dominican foundations, royal and papal privileges, alleged doctrinal integrity, contributions to civil and ecclesial life, and its role in forming leaders of an independent Philippines; it invokes Innocent X, Leo XIII, and Pius X to cloak this praise in historical continuity, commends the university as alma mater of the Filipino nation, and concludes with benedictions under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Thomas Aquinas. In reality, this text is a paradigmatic exercise in using traditional language to anesthetize vigilance, preparing Catholic institutions for absorption into the conciliar revolution and the cult of man under a usurper who would inaugurate the systematic betrayal of the very Magisterium he selectively cites.

Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani addressing a catechetical congress in Dallas in 1961, with bishops and catechists in a traditional cathedral setting.

Letters

Admodum gratum (1961.03.20)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated 20 March 1961, John XXIII appoints Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani as his legate to a catechetical congress in Dallas for bishops and catechists from the United States, Canada, and Latin America. He praises the scope of the meeting, exhorts catechists to fidelity, zeal, prayer, humility, and reliance on divine grace, and frames their task as an honorable service that yields spiritual fruit, crowning the text with his “apostolic blessing.” This apparently harmless exhortation, read in its historical and doctrinal context, is in fact a small but telling brick in the edifice of the conciliar revolution: a pious varnish masking a program of catechetical disarmament and preparation for the neo-church’s destruction of integral doctrine.

Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, stands solemnly before the Christ the King monument in Lisbon, Portugal.

Letters

Admodum gavisi (1961.03.08)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The letter “Admodum gavisi” of John XXIII congratulates Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, on the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination. It offers courtly praise for his governance, his promotion of liturgy and seminaries, his fostering of “Catholic Action” in Portugal, and commends especially the monument to Christ the King and the national consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, crowning it all with the promise of a plenary indulgence for the jubilee.

Reverent depiction of St. Patrick and Irish missionaries symbolizing Catholic Ireland's devotion to the Roman See as described in John XXIII's 1961 letter.

Letters

Hibernorum Apostoli (1961.02.18)

amdg / 2025-11-09

John XXIII’s letter on the 15th centenary of the death of St Patrick outwardly praises Ireland’s apostolic heritage, its fidelity to Rome, its missionary zeal, and its bond with the Roman See; yet the text functions as a subtle instrument of the conciliar revolution, redirecting an authentically Catholic legacy into obedient service of the nascent neo-church being prepared by its author.

A solemn portrait of Bishop Jaime de Barros Câmara receiving a letter from antipope John XXIII in a grand Brazilian cathedral during a Eucharistic Congress.

Letters

Haud minus (1961.01.09)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This short Latin letter of antipope John XXIII to Jaime de Barros Câmara, on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, is a ceremonious laudatory note: it praises his administrative zeal in various diocesan roles in Brazil, highlights his organization of a 1955 International Eucharistic Congress, commends his efforts for schools and catechesis, and grants him the faculty to impart the apostolic blessing with a plenary indulgence on the occasion of his jubilee.

Cardinal Ignatius Gabriel Tappouni kneeling in prayer before an ancient Catholic altar in a dimly lit Eastern Catholic church.

Letters

Chirographum ad Ignatium Gabrielem Tappouni (1960.12.16)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The brief Latin note attributed to John XXIII congratulates Ignatius Gabriel Tappouni, Syriac Patriarch of Antioch and cardinal, on the fiftieth anniversary of his reception of the Roman purple, praises his merits and fidelity to the See of Peter, and imparts an “Apostolic Blessing” upon him and his flock. Behind this seemingly innocuous compliment lies the distilled program of the conciliar usurpation: the canonization of diplomacy, the sacralization of human respect, and the instrumentalization of Eastern hierarchs as ornaments of a neo-church that has already begun to repudiate the Kingship of Christ and the dogmatic intransigence of the true Roman Church.

Cardinal Marcello Mimmi leading a Marian Congress in Buenos Aires in 1960, with traditional Catholic imagery and subtle signs of the conciliar revolution.

Letters

Libenter mox (1960.10.21)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated October 21, 1960, Giovanni Roncalli (John XXIII) appoints Cardinal Marcello Mimmi as his legate to a Marian Congress in Buenos Aires for the nations of both Americas. He praises the organizers’ zeal, expresses hopes for abundant “spiritual fruits,” invokes peace bound to social justice and “progress,” and commends confidence in the Blessed Virgin as patroness of victories and safeguard of public welfare. Behind the pious phrases, however, this text already displays the essential programmatic features of the conciliar revolution: subordination of supernatural religion to a naturalistic peace-and-progress agenda, Marian devotion severed from the rights of Christ the King and from the fight against error, and a diplomatic, horizontal rhetoric preparing the demolition of the integral Catholic order.

A traditional Catholic depiction of the 1960 International Eucharistic Congress in Munich, showing a solemn Mass with Cardinal Joseph Wendel and a large congregation.

Letters

Epistula ad Iosephum Wendel (1960.08.21)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Dated 21 August 1960, this Latin letter of John XXIII addresses Joseph Wendel of Munich-Freising on the occasion of the XXXVII International Eucharistic Congress in Munich. It overflows with congratulations for organizational success, praises civil collaboration, speaks of the televised ceremonies “from beginning to end,” extols the visible devotion of the crowds and frequent communions, and expresses the hope that such gatherings will foster charity, concord, and peace among nations. It is precisely in this apparently pious, ceremonial text that we see laid bare the programmatic naturalism, ecclesial falsification, and desacralization that prepared and embodied the conciliar revolution.