Archbishop Angelo Roncalli
(later, Pope Saint John XXIII, 1881 - 1963), had a keen sense of humour, even while holding positions of
authority. His humour, openness,
generosity, warmth and wisdom, made many people love him and call him, ‘Good
Pope John’. He was declared as a Saint on 27 April 2014.
Before becoming the Pope, he had
served as Apostolic Nuncio to France. In the course of the meal during a
banquet, he offered an apple to his neighbour, a woman in a dramatically
low-cut gown. “Do take it, Madame, please do,” he urged in his typically genial
way. “It was only after Eve ate the apple that she became aware of how little
she had on.”
Another
time, he greeted a lean and ascetic-looking visitor with a sigh and the
comment: “We will both have to say a prayer to God, beseeching him to remove
half my excess fat to give it to you!”
“How many people work at the Vatican?” a
reporter asked Pope St. John XXIII. “Oh, no more than half of them,” the Pope
replied with a wink.
When a cardinal complained to
Pope John that a rise in Vatican salaries meant a particular worker, an usher,
earned as much as the cardinal, the pope remarked: "That usher has 10 children;
I hope a cardinal doesn't have any."
On
another occasion, an official of Vatican told Pope St. John XXIII that it would
be “absolutely impossible” to open the Second Vatican Council by 1963. “Fine,
we’ll open it in 1962,” Pope John answered. And they did it.
Visiting a hospital, he asked a
boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy said, “Either a policeman or
a Pope.” "I would go in for the police if I were you," the Pope said.
"Anyone can become a Pope; look at me!"
Pope
St. John XXIII struck the same humorous note on Christmas Day in 1959, when he
visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison. He told the inmates that he came as their
brother—and confided that one of his relatives had served a sentence for
poaching. Pope John radiated so much goodness and sincerity that there was not
a dry eye in the place by the time he finished speaking.
On
another occasion, one prisoner refused to see him. Learning that the man had
murdered his wife, Pope John persuaded the guard to let him enter the inmate’s
cell. Then he opened a hearty conversation with these words: “You know, I’ve never
been married. But if I had married, I too might have killed my wife.”
Once, the Pope remarked, “Men
are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.”
On another occasion, he said, “It
is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real
father.”
……………………………………………………………………….
© By: Prof. Dr. Babu Philip,
Former Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts
Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu,
Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S.
John and Neil John, Maniparambil, Alfeen Public
School, Kanjirappally, Kerala, India.
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