Letters – Page 22 – Antipope John XXIII

Aloisius Josephus Muench as papal legate in Malta during a commemoration of St. Paul's shipwreck, highlighting traditional Catholic piety and the tension with conciliar changes.

UNDEVIGINTI SAECULA (1960.03.03)

amdg / 2025-11-09

John XXIII’s Latin letter “Undeviginti saecula” is a brief appointment of Aloisius Josephus (Aloisius Joseph Muench) as papal legate to preside over celebrations in Malta commemorating nineteen centuries since the shipwreck of St Paul. The text extols Malta’s natural gifts, praises its traditional fidelity to the Catholic faith, recalls St Paul as planter of that faith, and exhorts that all private and social life in Malta rest on the foundation which St Paul laid: Jesus Christ. It concludes with an apostolic blessing.

Antipope John XXIII presenting a letter to Archbishop Antonio Caggiano in a grand cathedral setting.

Letters

Quoniam ab episcopali (1960.03.11)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This Latin letter, issued by Antipope John XXIII to Antonio Caggiano on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration, is a short panegyric. It:
– Praises Caggiano’s government of Rosario: multiplication of parishes, construction of a seminary, promotion of religious formation, organization of lay apostolate.
– Commends his role in shaping Catholic Action in Argentina “according to the wishes of the Roman Pontiffs”.
– Extols his transfer to Buenos Aires and encourages him to continue his pastoral zeal.
– Grants him the faculty to impart, in John XXIII’s name, a blessing with plenary indulgence on the occasion of the jubilee.
All of it is wrapped in courtly phrases of paternal benevolence and institutional self-congratulation, without a single word of doctrinal combat against Modernism, Communism, naturalism, or the growing global apostasy.

St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac depicted in a traditional Catholic setting, surrounded by Daughters of Charity, engaging in acts of charity with a subtle reference to antipope John XXIII's manipulation.

Letters

Cum tria saecula (1960.02.20)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated 20 February 1960, antipope John XXIII addresses William Slattery, superior general of the Congregation of the Mission, on the 300th anniversary of the deaths of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac. He recalls his own devotion to these saints, praises their charity, exalts the Vincentian and Daughters of Charity works as a vast global network of social and charitable initiatives, and urges renewed commitment to organized charitable action adapted to modern circumstances, especially in the face of technological progress, social coldness, and global interdependence. He frames Vincentian charity as a unifying, pacifying force for humanity and concludes with an “apostolic” blessing as encouragement to imitate their example.

A reverent depiction of St. Joseph Cafasso in a traditional Catholic setting, highlighting his unwavering faith and opposition to liberal tendencies.

Letters

Ioannes XXIII and the Cult of Clerical Sentimentality (1959.12.16)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The letter of Ioannes XXIII to Maurilio Fossati on the commemorations of St Joseph Cafasso is a brief panegyric: it praises Cafasso as a model priest, educator of clergy, consoler of prisoners and the condemned, and uses his centenary as an occasion to exalt priestly associations under episcopal guidance as supports of holiness, patience, diligence, and social healing, culminating in a wish that “the law and love of Christ” safeguard individuals and communities, sealed with the so‑called “Apostolic Blessing.” From the perspective of integral Catholic teaching, this apparently pious text is a polished veil: a clericalist, sentimental manifesto of the nascent conciliar sect, exploiting an authentic saint to legitimize a new, man-centred, naturalistic religion.

Venerable Brother Clemente Micara being congratulated by John XXIII in a traditional Catholic setting.

Letters

Octogesimum mox (1959.12.12)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Venerable Brother Clemente Micara is congratulated by John XXIII on reaching his eightieth year. The letter briefly recounts Micara’s curial and diplomatic career, praises his loyalty to the Roman See and diligence in various offices, commends his rebuilding work in the war-damaged diocese of Velletri and his functioning as Vicar of Rome, and ends with a paternal blessing and wishes for divine assistance. In its apparent harmlessness and sugary rhetoric, this text perfectly reveals the self-referential, purely human horizon of the new regime that had already begun to displace the Catholic Church.

Portrait of Bishop Melchior Giedraitis in traditional liturgical vestments, surrounded by faithful Lithuanian Catholics in a historic church.

Letters

A A A ES – IOANNES XXIII (1959.12.08)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This Latin letter, dated 8 December 1959 and signed by John XXIII, is addressed to the bishops of Lithuania on the 350th anniversary of the death of Bishop Melchior Giedraitis. It recalls Giedraitis as a zealous Catholic pastor, praises the Lithuanian clergy and faithful for their perseverance under persecution, laments the anti-religious measures of the communist regime, and exhorts bishops, priests, parents, and youth to fidelity to the faith, to the sacraments, and to devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Šiluva.

John XXIII presents a letter to Cardinal Jacopo Copello in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, highlighting institutional praise without doctrinal substance.

Letters

Benevolentiae caritatis (1959.11.29)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The text titled “Benevolentiae caritatis” (29 November 1959) is a short congratulatory letter in Latin by John XXIII addressed to Cardinal Jacopo (Iacobus Aloisius) Copello on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It praises Copello’s long life, recalls divine benefits allegedly shed upon him, commends his past governance of the Buenos Aires church, notes his elevation to the cardinalate by Pius XI, and compliments him for his current role as Chancellor of the Roman Church, concluding with wishes and an “apostolic blessing.”

Pope John XXIII writing 'Apostolici Muneris' in the Vatican Library, surrounded by German bishops and relics of the Church.

Letters

Apostolici muneris (1959.11.29)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin letter dated 29 November 1959, John XXIII replies to the collective correspondence of German hierarchy assembled at Fulda. He congratulates them on their pastoral initiatives, praises the exposition of the Holy Tunic of Trier and the forthcoming Munich International Eucharistic Congress, extols charitable and “Diaspora” works, encourages efforts toward those “separated” from the Church, links all this to his announced “ecumenical council,” and concludes with paternal exhortations and a blessing. Behind the pious phraseology and sentimental invocations of unity, this text already manifests the programmatic dissolution of the Catholic religion into a naturalistic, ecumenical, and conciliatory project preparing the conciliar revolution.

Cardinal Pietro Ciriaci in traditional liturgical vestments stands in a grand Roman office, surrounded by symbols of curial power and diplomatic prestige.

Letters

Quinquagesimum natalem sacerdotii (1959.11.28)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The document is a Latin congratulatory letter in which John XXIII, acting as “pope,” flatters Pietro Ciriaci on the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination, praising his Roman academic career, curial service, diplomatic missions in Czechoslovakia and Portugal, and his role as prefect in charge of interpreting the Tridentine decrees. It is an exercise in courtly mutual admiration that presents human merit, bureaucratic success, and concordat diplomacy as the measure of ecclesial fruitfulness and concludes with an “apostolic blessing” as a seal over this purely horizontal eulogy. In one page it condenses the self-referential, naturalistic, and personality‑cult ethos of the conciliar revolution that would soon devastate the visible structures of the Church.

A reverent image of the Pontifical North American College on the Janiculum Hill in Rome, reflecting the sedevacantist critique of John XXIII's 1959 letter and the transition from traditional Catholic formation to the conciliar era.

Letters

A A A La Ioannes XXIII (1959.08.28)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this short Latin epistle dated 28 August 1959, John XXIII congratulates the rector Martin John O’Connor and the Pontifical North American College in Rome on the centenary of its foundation. He recalls with satisfaction the college’s fruits for the hierarchy of the United States, praises benefactors and alumni, highlights the symbolic importance of the new building on the Janiculum, and extols Rome as the privileged place for priestly formation near the Chair of Peter. The letter culminates in pious wishes that the college continue to form clergy of learning, virtue, and zeal for the good of the Church and the homeland, ending with his “Apostolic Blessing.”