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This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "John XXIII, Pope".
Italian-born Angelo Guiseppe Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope in 1958 taking the name Pope John XXIII. Seen as a transitory pope because he was in his late seventies, he initiated the Second Vatican Council, ushering in the most sweeping changes to the Roman Catholic Church in centuries. In 1960, he sent Merton one of his stoles and a signed photograph. Merton wrote a letter concerning the threat of nuclear war, the war machine in the United States, and Merton's support for the peace movement. Pope John's secretary Monsignor Capovilla expressed that the Holy Father was "impressed" by the letter and pleased by his writings on peace and dialog with Protestants. Bl. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was beatified in 2000. (Source: The Hidden Ground of Love, p. 481.)
Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.
See also published letters from Merton to Pope John XXIII in The Hidden Ground of Love, pp. 481-486; and see also the "Paul VI" and "Capovilla, Loris Francesco" files.
If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Click icons for links: ✓="Published | Library Record", ✉="Scanned" | 🗷="Scanned, Viewable Only at Merton Center"
| # | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| | y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
| 1. |
1958/11/10 |
TAL[c] from Merton |
Voici un de vos fils qui vient se prosterner pour vous saluer et vous feliciter de tout coeur, |
✓ |
«detailed view» |
| 2. |
1960/02/11 (#01) |
TAL[c] from Merton |
La joie des novices et le mien dépasse toutes les limites: comment l'exprimer? N'est ce pas |
✓ |
«detailed view» |
| 3. |
1960/02/11 (#02) |
TAL[d] from Merton |
With what joy we, your devoted sons, received the beautiful picture of Our Holy Father, and signed |
|
[draft of letter to be sent by Merton and Gethsemani novices]
«detailed view» |
| 4. |
1960/02/11 (#03) |
TALS[x] from Merton |
With what joy we, your devoted sons, received the beautiful picture of Our Holy Father, and signed |
✓ |
[letter sent by Merton and Gethsemani novices - enclosed with other letter by Merton of the same date]
«detailed view» |
| 5. |
1960/04/11 |
TAL[c] from Merton |
Comment vous exprimer la gratitude et l'émotion avec lesquelles je reçois l'honneur que me fait |
✓ |
«detailed view» |
| 6. |
1961/11/11 (#01) |
transcript from Merton |
... The most agonizing problem here is the very grave threat of a nuclear war. No one of course |
✓ |
[transcript by William Shannon, general editor of the published letters, of a letter sent to Pope John XXIII - note in The Hidden Ground of Love states that only this portion of the letter survives - see copy herein (Item #2) for the complete letter now discovered]
«detailed view» |
| 7. |
1961/11/11 (#02) |
transcript from Merton |
... The most agonizing problem here is the very grave threat of a nuclear war. No one of course |
✓ |
[copy from a monk at Bose via James Forest]
«detailed view» |
| 8. |
undated/no/no |
other |
TO POPE JOHN XXIII [-] POPE JOHN XXIII [-] (1881-1963) [-] Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born near |
|
[William Shannon's typescript for the published letters from Merton to Pope John XXIII]
«detailed view» |
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