Vatican Policy in a Revolutionary World

Archive Report

Liberalizing Influence of Pope John

Speculation Over Policies of the New Pope

Election of a successor to John XXIII, the “Pope of Unity,” is awaited with keen interest in Christian and Communist countries alike. The Pope's death on June 3, terminating a reign of four and one-half years, came at a time of ferment in the Roman Catholic Church. Believing that it was better to stress what unites rather than what divides mankind, the late pontiff softened the Vatican's stern attitudes toward Protestantism and toward communism. It has been said that Pope John's brief but extraordinarily eventful reign brought the Counter-reformation to an end.

Now the world is wondering whether the next occupant of the Chair of St. Peter will carry on the progressive policies of Pope ...

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