amdg – Page 65 – Antipope John XXIII

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

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.”

Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani as papal legate for the centenary of the Canadian hierarchy in a grand cathedral, reflecting the pious facade and hidden turmoil of the conciliar revolution.

Letters

Si summo (1959.08.25)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Dated 25 August 1959, this Latin letter of John XXIII to Alfredo Card. Ottaviani appoints him as papal legate for the centenary celebrations of the establishment of the hierarchy in Canada, extols the divine benefits granted through the erection of the Canadian hierarchy, praises Laval and the missionary ancestors, urges the Canadian bishops and faithful to preserve pure doctrine, defend against errors, and proclaim Christ even amid materialism, and grants a plenary indulgence and apostolic blessing to those participating in the solemnities. Behind this apparently edifying façade lies the quiet programmatic preparation of the conciliar revolution, the instrumentalization of a once-Catholic hierarchy for an already planned neo-church, and the pious camouflage of an emerging apostasy.

Image of a traditional Catholic Eucharistic Congress in Argentina 1959 with Cardinal Cento presiding, showcasing solemn devotion and reverence for the Eucharist.

Letters

Non excidit (1959.08.20)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Pseudopontiff John XXIII’s brief Latin letter “Non excidit” (20 August 1959) appoints Ferdinand Antonelli (Cardinal Cento) as legate to the National Eucharistic Congress in Argentina (Cordoba in Tucumán), recalls with sentimental emphasis the 1934 International Eucharistic Congress in Buenos Aires presided over by Eugenio Pacelli, praises the organizational zeal of bishops and laity, and warmly commends the collaboration of the Argentine civil authorities, linking it to a century of diplomatic relations with the Holy See. It presents the Congress as a moment for promoting devotion to the Eucharist, peace, and harmony between Church and State. In reality, this smooth, pious-sounding text is a programmatic piece of conciliar diplomacy: a calculated substitution of supernatural Catholic faith and the reign of Christ the King with a saccharine cult of events, national sentiment, and political concord, preparatory to the full-blown conciliar revolution.

Cardinal Marcello Mimmi at the 1959 Catana Eucharistic Congress, reflecting traditional Catholic worship and emerging conciliar themes

Letters

Catana urbs (1959.08.02)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Catana, a city marked by ancient martyrdom and chosen in 1959 as the site of a nationwide Eucharistic gathering, is presented in this letter of John XXIII as a fitting stage for solemn eucharistic homage, entrusted to Cardinal Marcello Mimmi as papal legate, with the stated aim that the faithful may ever more fervently venerate the Blessed Sacrament, grow in unity and peace, and draw spiritual and even civil benefits from the event. The entire text, while outwardly pious, functions as a refined exercise in liturgical propaganda for the emerging conciliar revolution, evacuating the Eucharistic mystery of its propitiatory and sacrificial character, subjugating it to horizontal pacifism and national sentiment, and thus preparing the faithful for the neo-church of anthropocentric ceremonialism.

Cardinal Alfonso Castaldo receiving a letter from John XXIII in a grand Catholic cathedral.

Letters

A A A LA IOANNES PP. XXIII (1959.06.24)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This Latin letter of John XXIII to Cardinal Alfonso Castaldo on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal ordination is an ornate panegyric: it praises his pastoral zeal in Pozzuoli and Naples, exalts his works for parishes, clergy, youth, and charitable institutions, grants him the faculty to impart the “papal blessing” with plenary indulgence on the jubilee celebration, and wraps everything in the rhetoric of “good shepherd” and apostolic fruitfulness. Behind its devout vocabulary, the text reveals the early consolidation of a new, horizontal, sentimental, and bureaucratic ecclesial mentality in which episcopal office is measured by sociological efficiency and public recognition rather than uncompromising guardianship of the deposit of faith and the rights of Christ the King; it is thus an edifying mask covering the nascent conciliar apostasy that John XXIII was already preparing.

Bishop Aloysius Stepinac in prayer before a crucifix in a war-torn church in Zagreb, symbolizing his perseverance and faith under communist persecution.

Letters

Abeunte tibi (1959.06.14)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Dated 14 June 1959, this brief Latin letter of John XXIII to Aloysius Stepinac marks the 25th anniversary of Stepinac’s episcopal consecration. John XXIII congratulates him for his supposed piety, firmness, charity towards the persecuted, defense of Catholic doctrine, and patience in suffering, praises Pius XII’s creation of him as cardinal, spiritualizes his isolation and trials, and imparts his “apostolic blessing” to Stepinac, his auxiliaries, clergy, and faithful of Zagreb. In doing so, the text canonizes not sanctity, but an already advanced state of ecclesial disorientation, using Stepinac’s real sufferings as a backdrop for the rising cult of the conciliar revolution’s founding figure.

Depiction of Pope St. Gregory VII presiding over the 1059 Lateran Synod with Canons Regular of St. Augustine in traditional habits.

Letters

Epistula ad Ludovicum Severinum Haller (1959.05.25)

amdg / 2025-11-09

This Latin letter, issued in 1959 by antipope John XXIII to Louis Severin Haller (titular “bishop” of Bethlehem and Abbot Primate of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine), commemorates the ninth centenary of the 1059 Lateran Synod and encourages the Canons Regular to celebrate their history, strengthen their confederation, promote liturgy, pastoral work, learning, common life, Augustinian charity, and strict observance of religious discipline within their communities.

Author name: amdg