REVIEW
Thoughts from my heart Andrew Brayley discusses the diary kept by Mgr Pericle Felici during Vatican II
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n September 2015 the Libreria Editrice Vaticana published the diary kept by Mgr (later Cardinal) Pericle Felici (19111982) before, during and after Vatican II. Younger members of the Society may not know that he was the Secretary General of the Council and a very distinguished canonist and Latinist. It was he who in 1978 - the year of three Popes – pronounced the time honoured formula, Habemus Papam (We have a Pope). The diary is made up of a diary in the traditional sense, plus a series of meditations under the heading Cogitationes cordis mei (Thoughts from my heart). I would like to share some of the diary’s insights, particularly in connection with the two Popes of the Council – Saint John XXIII and Blessed Paul VI – with whom Mgr Felici was in constant contact and whose trust and esteem he enjoyed. Pope John XXIII On March 23, 1960 Mgr Felici writes that Pope John’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tardini, confided that he was worried about the Pope’s ‘excessive goodness’ and that he felt he trusted people who said they wanted to serve the Church but who in reality wanted to use it to their advantage. The following day he quotes Pope John as saying that it was Providence that inspired him to call the Council, described by him as a ‘great event’. A few weeks later he is quoted as saying that the Council should not last more than two months! (He was subsequently to express
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the desire that the Council should end in 1963, exactly 400 years after the Council of Trent). Towards the end of 1960, he expressed the desire that Pope Pius IX should be ‘glorified’ during the Council. Mgr Felici writes that: ‘The Ecumenical Council will serve no purpose if it does not make priests and bishops holier.’ In October 1960, the author was raised to the fullness of the priesthood and he tells us that Pope John gave him a bejewelled gold ring to mark the occasion. Similarly, we are told that in December 1961, he used a gold pen to sign the Bull with which he summoned the bishops to Rome. What is interesting is that Pope John, for all his simplicity, does not seem to have considered such gestures as incompatible with evangelical poverty. In November 1960, we find a reference to one of the more controversial aspects of Pope John’s papacy: his diffidence towards the Capuchin Friar, Padre Pio, who was said to have received the stigmata. Mgr Felici writes: ‘Unfortunately, I hear things that I would not have expected; the Pope would like more submission and more humility from that friar.’ In the event both were canonised: Pope John by Pope Francis and Padre Pio by Pope John Paul II. We may presume that Saint John XXIII let bygones be bygones! Solvitur in excelsis (knots are untied in Heaven). Speaking of the schemata that were being prepared for the Council, Mgr Felici tells us that the Pope wanted them to have a prevalently pastoral character but the author adds that doctrine must be expounded in a clear and precise manner. The future cardinal realised that a pastoral approach must always have a solid doctrinal basis.
who voted placet to the supreme and full power of the episcopal College over the whole Church una cum Summo Pontifice, to explain the theological, juridical, historical and practical reasons for their vote, perhaps not one would have given an adequate answer!’ He adds: ‘They wanted to reduce the Pope to one who consented to what had already been decided.’ In October 1964 we find a reference to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was later to found the Society of Saint Pius X and who, along with 18 cardinals and four Superiors General, had sent a letter to Paul VI in connection with De Ecclesia. Mgr Felici writes: ‘I cannot understand such fury against a very worthy bishop who is certainly a hardliner but who defends the faith while against others, who use the Council to say things which offend the faith and common sense, nobody reacts effectively.’ The author also has some strong words for the four moderatores. He tells the Pope he has the impression that three of them are members both of the government and the opposition! He says they influence the Pope: ‘They have understood that he does not have a strong and determined character.’ On the other hand, in connection with De Ecclesia and De Oecumenismo he praises the Pope for standing firm and defending Church doctrine: ‘It was the Pope who gave sure guidance.’ Coming back to Paul VI, the author quotes him as saying, with a sense of grief: ‘Protestants are becoming our masters’, and on December 6 1965, two days before the Council ended, he writes: ‘The Council has cost the Pope dearly.’
Pope Paul VI Mgr Felici discusses a number of important questions, in particular the delicate and explosive question of collegiality. His great fear was that it was a pretext for reducing the Papacy to little more than a constitutional monarchy. Commenting on a vote which took place on 30 October 1963 he writes: ‘I am sure that if one had asked the 1600 Fathers
The diary runs to nearly 600 pages, so it has only been possible to select a few of the author’s many insights. We must hope and pray that there will be an English translation. Il “Diario” Conciliare di Monsignor Pericle Felici by Vincenzo Carbone, edited by Agostino Marchetti, is published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV) at €40.
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