Friday, April 11, 2025

It is the 11th of April 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

There’s a certain thrill when I come across an event or name or idea and think, “We haven’t yet talked about ______”? Church history is really big- and as I’ve mentioned before, its breadth and depth are good news!

Now-today’s monumental, epoch-making, earth-shattering event (really- it’s a big one) happens to be a Papal Encyclical- and from time to time, I get asked “for a show from 1517, that is, a Protestant outfit you sure talk about Pope’s and Catholics a lot. And I can defend that in a few ways- but let’s pretend you are a big Sony guy- Playstation and all that. You would probably want to know what the President of Microsoft was doing with the Xbox and in that adjacent space…  

Having said that- this Papal Encyclical- that is, a letter from the Pope to his Bishops was the first of its kind- addressed not to Bishops and, by extension, Catholics- but rather this encyclical was the first to the “faithful of the Entire World and TO ALL MEN OF GOODWILL.” It was published on this, the 11th of April in 1963, and friends, pardon my informality as a non-Catholic… it’s a banger- maybe the best of the encyclicals.

It was written by Pope John XXIIII, the reforming Pope who would call the Second Vatican Council. It was written in the aftermath of the first tempestuous years of the 1960s—the Cold War, the Nuclear Arms Race, the Bay of Pigs, and the first Catholic president: John F. Kennedy (he would praise it, but he was killed by somebody later that year).

Titled “Pacem in Terris” or “Peace on Earth,” it is a call not only to end nuclear proliferation but rather the first broad statement of the necessity of human rights, the dignity of all people, and the need for democracy and personal freedom under law.

To understand how big a deal this was, just decades prior, the Pope was lambasting “Americanism” and decrying democratic and popular opinion-making policy. The Pope had always been closer to monarchs and emperors than democracies. But with the world at the brink of disaster—in a bipolar world stuck between the USSR and the USA—the Pope came out swinging against the tyrants, fascists, and strongmen.

If you don’t remember- the election of JFK was a big deal as America was still virulently anti-Catholic in some places. Remember that the dopey KKK was not only anti-Black but very much anti-Catholic. BY extension, the United States had long ignored any pronouncements from the Vatican, as had many countries around the world. But not this call from Pope John XXIII- it was the first encyclical to be published in full in the New York Times, and the State Department responded- for the first time ever to a Pope- writing, “No country could be more responsive than the U.S. to its profound appeal to, and reassertion of, the dignity of the individual, and man's right to peace, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” An American diplomat quoted in Time Magazine from that year stated, “It embodies everything the U.S. has been working for. We couldn't agree with it more.”

It would become a centerpiece of Catholic social teaching for a modern age and utilized across sectarian divides. It argues that the world God made is one of order- and this order isn’t just natural but also social- and the equality of all people protected by the rule of law is essential for peace.

It was appropriately delivered to the war-torn world on this, the 11th of April, which in 1963 was Holy Thursday on the eve of Easter. Unfortunately, it would serve as a kind of “last will and testament” for Pope John XXIIII, who would be succeeded by a similarly minded Pope Paul…. These two would lay such a foundation for change that the next Pope took both of their names- John and Paul as he became the Pope who helped end the Cold War- a story for another time. Today, we remember the encyclical not just for Bishops or Catholics but for all of the goodwill wanting to think about the world we inhabit and the peace we’re told to work towards- it was “Pacem in Terris,” published on this day in 1963.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Hebrews 2. 

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 11th of April 2025 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who probably has some ideas as to who did it… maybe even read the new documents? He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has been sure that “it is not Angels he helps,”… but we are 7-3 as of this recording… Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.