Vatican newspaper recalls 1964 novel that featured Argentine pope

July 30, 2015

L'Osservatore Romano has published a lengthy article by Juan Manuel de Prada, a Spanish writer and literary critic, on Juan XXIII (XXIV), a 1964 novel by the late Argentine Jesuit Father Leonardo Castellani.

Stating that Castellani had the "sensibility of a great poet" and the "clairvoyance of a great prophet," de Prada summarized the novel's plot. The protagonist, Pío Ducadelia, is a Jesuit who is disciplined by his own order before becoming an advisor to the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Taking part in the Second Vatican Council amid the backdrop of a Soviet-European war, Ducadelia proposes reforms, including a "decentralization of ecclesiastical government," an "adjustment of ecclesiastical celibacy to make it more rigorous," and poverty for bishops and religious communities. Captured by invading Russians and tortured, Ducadelia is astonished to find upon his release that he has been elected pope.

As pope, he battles for the "inner purity" of the Church against "ecclesiasticism," reduces the influence of the Curia, promotes warm priestly contact with parishioners, and declares that "the true treasure of the Church is the poor." The press is initially very favorable to the new pope.

After he condemns large corporations, though, he is attacked in the American press, but he persists in stating that the "international plutocracy" corrupts democracy. Denouncing a conspiracy by "one-worlders" to establish a global atheist state, the pope experiences more media attacks. Amid decreasing popularity, he maintains his good humor in opposing the plutocracy.

Recalling Oscar Wilde's aphorism that nature imitates art, de Prada concluded by stating that "sometimes it takes a half century to do so."

 

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Further information:

• Un argentino prima di Francesco (L'Osservatore Romano, p. 5)