Tribute To Blessed John XXIII On Pentecost Sunday

VATICAN, Jun. 4, 2001 (CWNews.com) - About 30,000 people were in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, June 3, as the mortal remains of Blessed John XXIII were brought in a solemn procession to the altar where Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass for the feast of Pentecost.

The body of "good Pope John," which had been discovered to be incorrupt, was carried in a bronze and crystal open casket. The former Pope-- who had died exactly 38 years earlier-- was clad in white papal vestments; his features were plainly visible, although his face was covered with a thin wax mask.

In his homily during the Mass for Pentecost, Pope John Paul II recalled that John XXIII had convened the Second Vatican Council. Noting that Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father remarked that "the Holy Spirit was the protagonist of the Council, from the very moment the Pope convoked it."

However, John Paul continued, the greatest gift that Pope John XXIII gave to the Church was not the Council, nor his reputation for humor and good will. "The most precious gift left by Pope John to the People of God was himself: his witness of sanctity," the Pope said.

After the ceremony in St. Peter's Square, the remains of Blessed John XXIII were brought inside the basilica and placed in front of the Altar of Confession, where the public could pay their respects to the former Pontiff through the remainder of the day. Then on Sunday night the casket was transferred to a new resting place near the altar of St. Jerome, just off the central aisle of St. Peter's.

On Monday, an unusually heavy flow of pilgrims came to the Vatican basilica, with most of them making a special visit to the new resting place of "good Pope John." Vatican officials expect those visits to continue indefinitely. The popularity of the former Pope has already been proven, with an estimated 3 million people his birthplace during the Jubilee year of 2000.

It was a quiet, respectful crowd-- somewhat smaller than anticipated-- that gathered in St. Peter's Square as Cardinal Virgilio Noe, the archpriest of the Vatican basilica, led the procession that brought the body of the former Pope to the altar.

Pope John XXIII, who was beatified last year, had become a tremendously popular figure, in part because of his simple manner and self-deprecating humor. Born Angelo Roncalli, to an ordinary family in the little village of Sotto il Monte, he had rise to be Archbishop of Venice and finally successor to St. Peter.

As he recalled his predecessor, Pope John Paul II remarked that "from his first days in the seminary, he let himself be molded each day by the action of the Holy Spirit." That humble openness to God's will, the Holy Father said, was the key to his "unforgettable" character and to "the good will with which he won over the People of God and so many other men of good will."

The Sunday ceremony attracted attention not only because Blessed John XXIII is so popular among today's Catholics, but also because of the surprising discover that his body was not corrupt after 38 years in the grave. That discovery-- which was made in January, but kept quite by Vatican officials until the story leaked to the public in March-- was taken by many Catholics as a miracle. Cardinal Noe referred to the preservation of the late Pontiff's body as "a providential coincidence, a sign of divine favor and holiness."

The man who embalmed John XXIII, however, was not stunned by the news that his body was preserved. In an interview with the Italian monthly Famiglia Cristiana, Dr. Gennaro Goglia insisted that the true "miracle of John XXIII" was not the preservation of his body but "his spiritual and Christian richness, and his great humanity."

Dr. Goglia told Famiglia Cristiana how he had been summoned to the Vatican on June 3, 1963, to prepare the body of the recently deceased Pope John XXIII for burial. Dr. Goglia, who is now 78, described the experience as an emotional one, and said he was equally emotional as he participated in the ceremonies of June 3, 2001.

The Pope's embalmer revealed that he was disappointed by the decision to cover the face of John XXIII with a wax mask. "In my view that was not necessary," he said, adding that the mask "gave a bit of the look of a statute." His own preference, he allowed, was that "the faithful should have had the change to see the face that is so familiar to so many people, and so well loved."

When he had embalmed the Pope, Dr. Goglia had worked secretly; he even told his family that he was sleeping in his laboratory, when in fact he was working at the papal apartment. That characteristic Vatican reserve, used to avoid sensational reports, helped the mortician to keep his secret until recently. He only answered the request for an interview with Famiglia Cristiana with the approval of Cardinal Noe.

On January 2, the day before the exposition of the late Pontiff's remains, Vatican Radio interviewed another man who had vivid recollections of the death of John XXIII. Msgr. Loris Francesco Capovilla, who is now 84, had been a private secretary to Pope John.

Msgr. Capovilla recalled that the Sunday ceremony-- in which the body of John XXIII was transferred to a more prominent resting place in the Vatican basilica-- was not unprecedented. In fact, he reminded the radio audience, John XXIII had presided at a similar ceremony for the re-burial of St. Pius X in 1959.

Citing the authority of Pope John Paul II, the former papal secretary said that the proper way to honor a saint is not by public ceremonies or tributes, but be "imitating his virtues." He said that Blessed John XXIII offers an especially strong example of "simplicity and prudence,' who gives today's Catholics an opportunity to imitate "a life of witness, of confidence, and of hope."

Catholic World News - Feature
4. juni 2001