Historia Magistra Vitae Est : A Historiographical Look at Twentieth-Century Biographies of Pope John XXIII

ABSTRACT: The sixtieth anniversary in 2023 of Pope John XXIII's death calls to mind the twentieth-century U.S. reception of his election and papacy. By many, John XXIII was deemed "revolutionary." Yet accounts of what Pope John's revolution entailed and how he worked to facilitate it varied among English-language chroniclers over the course of the twentieth century. A representative study of these biographies, written primarily by journalists-turned-historians, demonstrates that from John's election to the papacy of Pope John Paul II, they portray the pope through their ecclesiological expectations and hopes. In their hands, Pope John XXIII is an emblem of what the Catholic Church should be, either as a conciliatory, humble presence to the wider U.S. population or, later, as a counterpoint to the style and leadership of his successors.