{"id":6060,"date":"2014-04-15T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/"},"modified":"2014-04-15T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T10:03:00","slug":"john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/","title":{"rendered":"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canonized April 27.<\/p>\n

\tIn 1961, the birthday of \u201cGood Pope John\u201d became the occasion for the first communication between the Soviet Union and the Vatican since the October Revolution of 1917.<\/p>\n

\tSemen Kozyrev, the Soviet ambassador to Italy, sent birthday greetings to the Pope which read:\u00a0 \u201cOn behalf of Khrushchev, I have been entrusted with the task of communicating to His Holiness, Pope John XXIII, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, my congratulations and sincerest wishes for good health and success in the continuation of the noble aspiration of contributing to the strengthening and consolidation of peace on earth and the solution of international problems through candid pronouncements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tJohn XXIII wrote a reply by hand, on paper headed with his coat of arms; the reply was returned to Kozyrev through Archbishop Carlo Grano, who was apostolic nuncio to Italy.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHis Holiness Pope John XXIII,\u201d his reply read, \u201cextends his thanks for the wishes and expresses for your behalf and for the entire Russian people also, his cordial wishes for the growth and consolidation of universal peace, through the mutual understanding of human fraternity: for this he fervently prays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThis exchange opened a channel of communication between the states, and when the Cuban missile crisis emerged the following year, John XXIII used it to send a message to the Soviet Union, as well as to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\tThe message concluded by begging \u201call governments not to remain deaf to this cry of humanity. That they do all that is in their power to save peace. They will thus spare the world from the horrors of a war whose terrifying consequences no one can predict. That they continue discussions, as this loyal and open behaviour has great value as a witness of everyone\u2019s conscience and before history. Promoting, favouring, accepting conversations, at all levels and in any time, is a rule of wisdom and prudence which attracts the blessings of heaven and earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe message was delivered to both the American and Soviet embassies, was broadcast on Vatican Radio, and was also published on the front page of Pravda, the official voice of the Soviet communist party.<\/p>\n

\tBl. John XXIII\u2019s diplomacy also resulted in the release of Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, Ukrainian Archbishop of Lviv, from a gulag Jan. 25, 1963.<\/p>\n

\tCardinal Slipyj had been arrested by the Soviets in 1945, and spent much of his time since then in Siberian gulags.<\/p>\n

\tThe Holy See had long advocated for his release, but it was not until into John XXIII\u2019s pontificate that the cardinal was released by Khrushchev.<\/p>\n

\tA month later, Alexei Adzhubei, editor of the Soviet government\u2019s newspaper Izvestia and Khrushchev\u2019s son-in-law, was visiting Rome and wished to meet the Pope.<\/p>\n

\tEven though many Vatican prelates were against the meeting, on the advice of Cardinal Siri of Genoa, Bl. John XXIII chose to meet Adzhubei and his wife, Rada, March 7, 1963.<\/p>\n

\tThis series of events paved the way for Paul VI\u2019s policy of Ostpolitik, by which he engaged in dialogue with officials from the Warsaw Pact to improve conditions for Christians in those nations.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/\",\"name\":\"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain","description":"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain","og_description":"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/","name":"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-15T10:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Apr 15, 2014 \/ 04:03 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- While Pope, Bl. John XXIII began a dialogue with the Soviet Union that led to the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain during the pontificate of his successor John Paul II, both of whom will be canon...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/john-xxiii-and-the-beginning-of-the-fall-of-the-iron-curtain\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"John XXIII and the beginning of the fall of the Iron Curtain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}