amdg – Page 27 – Antipope John XXIII

A realistic depiction of John XXIII delivering his allocution at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1959, surrounded by professors and students in academic robes. The grand hall features traditional Catholic symbols and stained-glass windows.

Allocutio ad Pontificiam Universitatem Gregorianam (1959.01.18)

amdg / 2025-11-11

In this allocution of 18 January 1959 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, John XXIII offers courteous praise of the university, exalts its title “Pontifical University Gregorian,” recalls Gregory XIII, commends the Jesuits, and exhorts professors and students to unite science with piety, obedience to the “Magisterium,” and zeal for the “Kingdom of Christ” in the modern world. Behind this apparently edifying rhetoric, however, stands the embryonic program of the conciliar revolution: the instrumentalization of Catholic institutions to legitimize a new religion that will shortly betray the very doctrinal foundations it superficially invokes.

John XXIII addressing the Federation of Catholic Universities in 1959, with a traditional Catholic university setting reflecting the article's critique.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII moderatoribus Universitatum Catholicarum (1959.04.01)

amdg / 2025-11-11

John XXIII’s address of 1 April 1959 to the leaders and delegates of the Federation of Catholic Universities is a self-congratulatory exhortation: it praises the universities’ growth since Pius XII’s letter “Catholicas studiorum Universitates,” lauds their contribution to Church and states, calls for unity against materialism, and invites them to support the planned “ecumenical council,” presenting Catholic academia as a privileged instrument of concord, dialogue, and global influence. Already here the future architect of the conciliar revolution reveals the program of a new religion: replacing the integral Catholic order with an academic, naturalistic, and ecumenical project in which Christ is a unifying slogan, but the full sovereignty of His truth and His Church is methodically evacuated.

Antipope John XXIII addressing an international Ciceronian congress in Rome, 1959. A traditional Catholic gathering with classical Latin banners and religious symbols.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII ad Ciceronianum Conventum (1959.04.07)

amdg / 2025-11-11

The text is a short address by antipope John XXIII to an international Ciceronian congress in Rome (April 7, 1959). He courteously praises the participants, encourages the study and love of Cicero and classical Latinity, laments the neglect of the humanities in favour of technical utilitarianism, and presents Cicero as a noble precursor whose moral and philosophical insights harmoniously prepare for Christianity, culminating in a pious wish for spiritual and human benefits for the audience.

John XXIII addressing Canons Regular of St Augustine in San Giorgio in Alga, Venice, 1959

Speeches

A A A La Allocutio Ioannis XXIII ad Canonicos Regulares S. Augustini (1959.05.26)

amdg / 2025-11-11

The text is a short allocution of John XXIII to the Canons Regular of St Augustine (26 May 1959), commemorating 900 years since Nicholas II’s Lateran reform of their institute, praising their history, sentimentally recalling San Giorgio in Alga and its illustrious figures (Eugene IV and St Lawrence Giustiniani), and exhorting them—under their newly formed federation and newly appointed superiors—to pursue “higher, purer, better paths of virtue” in the spirit of St Augustine’s maxim: love truth, guard unity, foster charity.

This apparently benign discourse is in reality a delicate anesthetic: a soft-focus humanistic rhetoric that prepares religious for conciliar revolution by replacing supernatural militancy and doctrinal clarity with sentimental moralism and institutional consolidation under a man already resolved to convoke the council that would devastate religious life.

Benedictine monks listening to John XXIII's 1959 allocution at Anselmianum on the Aventine Hill, reflecting on its subtle revolutionary undertones.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII ad Ordinem Benedictinum (1959.09.25)

amdg / 2025-11-11

John XXIII’s allocution of 25 September 1959 at the Anselmianum on the Aventine is an apparently pious exhortation to Benedictine abbots and monks: it recalls the historical merits of the Order, praises “ora et labora,” extols the Divine Office and liturgical prayer, commends studies, education, missionary work, and unity of the Benedictine family, and urges fidelity to St. Benedict while being open to “new technical inventions” and “new apostolic initiatives.” Behind this mild, mellifluous monastic tableau stands the inaugural program of the conciliar revolution, cloaked in liturgical incense: a subtle displacement of supernatural Catholic militancy by a placid, horizontal, adaptable spirituality perfectly fitted to the coming neo-church.

Traditional Catholic Mass with priest elevating the Host during Consecration in a historic Roman church.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII (1959.10.13)

amdg / 2025-11-11

John XXIII’s address to the clergy and alumni of the German College of Santa Maria dell’Anima on the centenary of its juridical erection by Pius IX is, at first glance, a courteous panegyric: praise for the College’s history, gratitude for its contribution to dioceses, exhortations to fidelity, learning, virtue, and pastoral zeal, crowned by an “apostolic blessing.” Beneath this harmless exterior, however, stands a programmatic signal: the appropriation of pre-1958 Catholic prestige to legitimize the nascent conciliar revolution, a sentimental, horizontal, humanistic vision that carefully avoids affirming the rights of Christ the King, the necessity of doctrinal militancy against error, and the supernatural conditions of salvation. This seemingly pious allocution is thus an early stylistic manifesto of the coming neo-church: polite, decorative, and already internally displaced from integral Catholic faith.

John XXIII addresses seminarians at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, 1959, highlighting the contrast between traditional Catholic reverence and the emerging conciliar revolution.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII ad Collegium Americanum (1959.10.11)

amdg / 2025-11-11

On October 11, 1959, John XXIII delivered a festive allocution at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, marking the centenary of the seminary. He extols the College’s history, praises the hierarchy and faithful of the United States, emphasizes institutional growth, academic and technical progress, and charitable initiatives, and presents the College as a model of “loyal collaboration” between hierarchy and people under “God’s Providence.” He highlights Roman formation as a unifying ecclesial center and closes by announcing procedural advancement in the cause of Elizabeth Seton, all in a tone of congratulatory optimism and civic-religious harmony. From the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this speech is an early and eloquent manifesto of the conciliar revolution: naturalistic, sentimental, ecclesiologically hollow, and oriented toward a Church reconciled with liberal America rather than subjected to the social Kingship of Christ.

A traditional Catholic depiction of John XXIII's secret consistory in 1959, marking the shift from traditional doctrine to conciliar humanism.

Speeches

Allocutio Ioannis XXIII (1959.12.14)

amdg / 2025-11-11

The Latin allocution of John XXIII of 14 December 1959, delivered in secret consistory, announces the creation of new “cardinals,” surveys the first year of his reign, exalts international visits and sentimental devotions, laments social and geopolitical problems, and presents with great optimism the coming Roman Synod and the planned “Ecumenical Council” as instruments for the renewal and “youth” of the Church. It is precisely in this apparently serene, pastoral discourse that one perceives the programmatic shift from the Catholic Church of Christ the King to a conciliatory humanistic association preparing the conciliar revolution.

A solemn scene in St. Peter's Basilica as John XXIII accepts his papacy, with cardinals observing quietly.

Speeches

Ioannes XXIII (1958.10.28)

amdg / 2025-11-11

The text is the first official allocution by Angelo Roncalli as “John XXIII” upon his election, delivered in Latin in St. Peter’s Basilica on 28 October 1958. He theatrically presents himself as trembling before the “chalice of bitterness” of the supreme office, interprets the vote of the conclave as a clear sign of God’s will, explains his choice of the name Ioannes by a sentimental chain of associations (his father, his baptismal parish, the Lateran, Mark the Evangelist, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist), and concludes by invoking these two Johns as exemplars and protectors of his ministry, aspiring—even “unto the shedding of blood”—to their holiness and fortitude.

Pope John XXIII addressing the College of Cardinals in 1958, highlighting the shift towards sentimental collegiality over traditional papal authority.

Speeches

A A A LA DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE GIOVANNI XXIII (1958.11.04)

amdg / 2025-11-11

On 4 November 1958, in the Aula dei Paramenti, Angelo Roncalli (John XXIII) addressed the College of Cardinals shortly after his election. In the brief allocution, he thanks the Cardinal Dean for the homage, speaks of his “smallness,” emphasizes affective bonds with the cardinals as his “pontifical family,” and repeats: “Dominus est legifer noster; Ipse salvabit nos.” The Dean’s address in turn assures him of the cooperation of the Sacred College and invokes the image of Peter’s barque, asking that “all sheep from the rising to the setting of the sun” be brought into the one fold and that in Christ be established a “kingdom of truth and life… holiness and grace… justice, love and peace.”

Author name: amdg